‘Garbage To Gas: Using Biodigesters To Create Energy’ Wins 2020 New Mexico Governor’s STEM Challenge Biodigesters use microbes to speed the decay of organic matter (usually food waste) and use the resulting methane-rich biogas as a sustainable energy source for electricity, cooking, and heating. The Monte del Sol team built a biodigester in the school greenhouse. Photo Courtesy LANL Student scientists at Monte del Sol Charter School earned a $4,500 cash prize awarded by Los Alamos National Laboratory judges in the New Mexico Governor’s STEM Challenge with their project, “Garbage to Gas: Using Biodigesters to Create Energy.” “The STEM Challenge’s team-based approach of applying science, technology, engineering and math to address real needs is a microcosm of what we do at the Laboratory every day,” said Laboratory Director Thom Mason. “I congratulate the teachers and student scientists of Monte del Sol Charter School and thank our partners for organizing this innovative contest.”