Abstract:
Water Hyacinth, E. crassipes, and Water Lettuce, Pistia stratiotes are invasive
water weeds that thrive in freshwater bodies and estuaries. These weeds have high
cellulose and hemicellulose concentrations, highlighting their potential for
generating biogas and other bioenergy sources. Since these invasive aquatic weeds
could potentially have a positive economic impact, this study aimed to investigate
their possible economic benefits and assess the possibility for biogas production
from their biomass. For this investigation, the Volta River Estuary near Ada was
chosen as the study area. At Ada, boats were used to harvest weeds from the Volta
River Estuary. They were placed in an ice chest and taken to the laboratory. The
experiment was performed by first pre-treating the two weeds. The pre-treatment
involved using mortar and pestle to pound the weeds to create a larger surface area
for microbial activity on the weeds. Pre-treated Water hyacinth/Water lettuce plus
cow dung were continually fed into an anaerobic digester for 45days and allowed
to generate biogas. Factors such as pH and temperature were closely monitored
during the digestion period. The Chemical and elemental composition of the two
weeds were also determined. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to
describe the variations in the parameters. At the end of the study, Eichhornia
crassipes and Pistia stratiotes exhibited the potency to be used as feedstocks for
biogas production. Based on the Analysis of Variance and Z-Tests findings, it was
realized that the means of the biogas yield of the two weeds differ significantly.
Consequently, water hyacinth has been identified as the perfect weed suitable for
the production of large-scale biogas.
