Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) is an invasive free-floating fresh-water plant native to South America, but now prevalent across Asia and Africa due to its previous ill-founded introduction as an ornamental species. It has a beautiful purple flower but due to its invasive nature, it forms impenetrable mats, boost mosquito numbers, depleting the water of dissolved oxygen, effectively suffocating fish. It has significant socioeconomic consequences , disrupting fishing,  travel and camouflaging predators such as snakes and crocodiles hence its nickname, 'the beautiful devil'. This presentation will summarise the characteristics of water hyacinth and explore opportunities for its utilisation. A particular focus will be on disseminating activities from an ongoing Global Challenges Research project called BEFWAM: Bioenergy, clean water and fertiliser from Invasive aquatic macrophytes. The aim of the BEFWAM project is to develop small scale, low cost solutions, for utilising aquatic biomass, particularly via anaerobic digestion for the production of biogas for cooking in India and Uganda.

Zoom: https://aarhusuniversity.zoom.us/j/63124774386