374
P. Mazumder et al.
naturally in the lack of oxygen. The occurrence of lignin with cellulose and hemicellulose fragments in water hyacinth makes it recalcitrant to treatments to some extent.
This may slow down the hydrolysis process and affects biogas generation and also the
rate. Erroneous depletion of fossil fuels and emission of greenhouse gases (GHG’s)
such as CO 2 has led to enormous research on clean and green or sustainable energy
options from natural sources and mainly from waste. Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a
widely applied efficient sustainable technique that uses wastes to convert into biogas
in the absence of oxygen combining dual benefits of biofuel generation with sustainable waste management (Achinas et al. 2017). Several researches have crisply
studied the generation of biogas from water hyacinth as the weed is abundant in all
regions. Many researchers nowaday’s focus on the pre-treatment of water hyacinth
to solubilize the cellulose that leads to higher yields of gas (Barua et al. 2019; Sarto
et al. 2019).
16.2.6.1 In the Production of Biohydrogen
Biohydrogen assures a replacement biofuel to substitute fossil fuels because of the
expansion of inexhaustible energy source, addressing climate change, and depletion
of petroleum and crude oil. Production of biohydrogen by the dark fermentation process is reliable because it is sustainable and requires minimum energy in comparison
to the electrochemical techniques or thermochemical processes. While biohydrogen
production from a stratum consisting of a major portion as carbohydrates like corn,
sugar, starch, etc., increases the price of biohydrogen production significantly. Hence,
the emerging research in the field is primarily on the usage of lignocellulosic wastes
such as wheat straw, sugarcane bagasses, corn silage, etc., that are also known as
second-generation processes. Water hyacinth comprises mainly of three major components, viz., lignin, hemicellulose and cellulose out of which the hemicellulose
content is as high as 55% (dry weight basis). This hemicellulose gets converted into
sugar as by-products. On treatment with dilute acid, two forms of sugars, mainly
xylose and glucose are produced from hemicellulose (Pattraa and Sittijundab 2015).
Glucose and xylose obtained during the process are converted into hydrogen by
biohydrogen producing microorganisms in the culture.
16.2.7 Manure
Studies show the vast usage of water hyacinth as manure for organic farming. It has
been reported to be used both as mulch and compost because of the rise in demand
for chemical fertilizer free crops, especially in the western world. This aquatic plant
is known to hold moisture in the soil predominantly in dry conditions and also
recycle/replenish soil nutrients. Water hyacinth application as compost has been
P. Mazumder et al.
naturally in the lack of oxygen. The occurrence of lignin with cellulose and hemicellulose fragments in water hyacinth makes it recalcitrant to treatments to some extent.
This may slow down the hydrolysis process and affects biogas generation and also the
rate. Erroneous depletion of fossil fuels and emission of greenhouse gases (GHG’s)
such as CO 2 has led to enormous research on clean and green or sustainable energy
options from natural sources and mainly from waste. Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a
widely applied efficient sustainable technique that uses wastes to convert into biogas
in the absence of oxygen combining dual benefits of biofuel generation with sustainable waste management (Achinas et al. 2017). Several researches have crisply
studied the generation of biogas from water hyacinth as the weed is abundant in all
regions. Many researchers nowaday’s focus on the pre-treatment of water hyacinth
to solubilize the cellulose that leads to higher yields of gas (Barua et al. 2019; Sarto
et al. 2019).
16.2.6.1 In the Production of Biohydrogen
Biohydrogen assures a replacement biofuel to substitute fossil fuels because of the
expansion of inexhaustible energy source, addressing climate change, and depletion
of petroleum and crude oil. Production of biohydrogen by the dark fermentation process is reliable because it is sustainable and requires minimum energy in comparison
to the electrochemical techniques or thermochemical processes. While biohydrogen
production from a stratum consisting of a major portion as carbohydrates like corn,
sugar, starch, etc., increases the price of biohydrogen production significantly. Hence,
the emerging research in the field is primarily on the usage of lignocellulosic wastes
such as wheat straw, sugarcane bagasses, corn silage, etc., that are also known as
second-generation processes. Water hyacinth comprises mainly of three major components, viz., lignin, hemicellulose and cellulose out of which the hemicellulose
content is as high as 55% (dry weight basis). This hemicellulose gets converted into
sugar as by-products. On treatment with dilute acid, two forms of sugars, mainly
xylose and glucose are produced from hemicellulose (Pattraa and Sittijundab 2015).
Glucose and xylose obtained during the process are converted into hydrogen by
biohydrogen producing microorganisms in the culture.
16.2.7 Manure
Studies show the vast usage of water hyacinth as manure for organic farming. It has
been reported to be used both as mulch and compost because of the rise in demand
for chemical fertilizer free crops, especially in the western world. This aquatic plant
is known to hold moisture in the soil predominantly in dry conditions and also
recycle/replenish soil nutrients. Water hyacinth application as compost has been