Abstract:

The bloom of water hyacinth is a common aquatic environmental problem in tropical regions.The use of water hyacinth to remove nutrients from water bodies and to produce biogas is a technologically feasible option for the control of water hyaicnth,but its environmental economic performances are not well understood.This study conducts a cost benefit analysis for the control of water hyacinth bloom using data collected from Dianchi Lake,China.Comparison was made between the project and the current approach of disposing water hyacinth by landfill.The results reveal that the project is economically feasible with a desirable energy gain.The removal of water hyacinth to produce biogas can also contribute to water quality improvement and GHG emission reduction whose values,however,depend on the processing scale of biogas plant.Since both the current approach and the proposed project can remove nutrients from water bodies,additional value of water quality improvement resulting from the project is only possible when the processing scale of the biogas plant is greater than the amount of water hyacinth disposed by landfill.The emission of methane deserves more concerns when water hyacinth is disposed by landfill.The project can be a potential option responding to China’s policies on water pollution control,renewable energy development,and energy saving and emission reduction