BAGUIO CITY – Students from St. Louis University are planning to patent their award-winning biofuel invention, which utilizes wild taro, locally known as "gabi".

In October, the team won a Business and Idea Development Award (BIDA), given by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, for their taro-derived bio-ethanol fuel.

"Wild gabi is an abundant yet inedible crop na rich sa carbohydrates and glucose, na kailangan sa bio-ethanol. Ang bio-ethanol, ito yung type ng gas na napapagana pa rin ang saskayan, but in a cleaner way,” researcher Gregory Lumboy said.

(Wild taro is an abundant yet inedible crop which is rich in carbohydrates and glucose, which are needed to make bio-ethanol. Bio-ethanol is a type of clean fuel that can be used in cars.)

It took the students two weeks to ferment the taro and extract the oil, which they dubbed "Bio-Gab".

"We collected the wild gabi kasi kahit saan, tumutubo naman [ito] (because it grows anywhere)," researcher Oji Tateoka said.

"Bio-Gab" is efficient and eco-friendly, the students said. Their invention was tested and found to be as effective as other petroleum products commonly used in cars.