AEYA 2021 is an annual event organized by the ASEAN Center Energy in collaboration with the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) and supported by the Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy and the Korea Energy Agency. AEYA was first held in 2020 and this year was its second year. There are 3 categories in this competition, including essays, videos, and posters/infographics.

In 2021, AEYA raised the theme “Innovation and Creativity Towards Sustainable and Resilient Energy System in ASEAN”. Responding to this, Naffisa suddenly thought of an idea. She thought that the used cooking oil is often wasted even though it can bring great benefits.

According to her research, a small-scale community in Indonesia (±1500 houses) can produce 520 kg of used cooking oil per day. Therefore, Naffisa carries the idea of ??“Utilizing Eggshell Waste in Advancing Continues Biodiesel Production for Small Communities in ASEAN”. Briefly, she purposes the idea of reusing cooking oil with eggshells as a catalyst for small communities in ASEAN to promote sustainable biodiesel production.

“Indeed, this could be complicated, but if it has started being implemented in small communities, surely hopes that it will have a wide impact and can be carried out on a regional or even national scale”, said Naffisa.

It all started with her passion for cooking during the pandemic, she could discard the cooking oil after being used 2-3 times. This is certainly often done by most people. Naffisa doesn’t feel right about it and thought it must be stopped immediately because small actions like throwing away cooking oil will have a big impact such as soil pollution. With this simple but impactful idea, Nafissa was able to become the First Runner up for AEYA 2021 in the Poster/Infographics Category.

“If you have an idea, you should write it down and use it for a competition when you had the chance. Because everyone has the opportunity to win, what differs them is their intention and effort to find information,” said Naffisa as her motivational quote.

Reporter: Pravito Septadenova Dwi Ananta (Teknik Geologi, 2019)
Translator: Aghisna Syifa R (Biologi, 2020)