Utilization of water hyacinth briquette as an alternative energy source to combat blooming in Abaya and Chamo Lakes, Ethiopia

The water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) is among the World’s most problematic invasive aquatic plants, disrupting ecological processes, degrading water quality, and threatening biodiversity through rapid proliferation and dense canopy formation. The present study aimed to evaluate the conversion of water hyacinth densified to briquettes as an alternative energy source to combat blooming in Abaya and Chamo Lakes. Water hyacinth biomass was harvested, carbonized, and formulated into briquettes using molasses and plantain peel powder as binders at ratios of 60:40, 70:30, and 80:20 (A, B, C, D, E, F). The briquettes were evaluated for combustion performance, bulk density, proximate analysis, emissions, and elemental composition. The findings showed that molasses blended with water hyacinth briquettes had significantly lower moisture content (MC) and ash content (AC), alongside higher fixed carbon (FC) and a better burning rate (BR) compared to plantain peel blended with water hyacinth briquettes. In comparison to plantain peel blended with water hyacinth briquettes (MC 66. 54–87. 48%; AC 34. 34.97-36. 38%; BR 4. 85–10.52. 52 g/min), molasses blended with water hyacinth briquettes exhibited significantly lower MC (30. 97–37. 12%) and AC (27. 09–28. 83%), higher FC (20. 48–25. 75%), and a better BR (101. 61–133. 14 g/min). Physical assessment revealed bulk density (BD) values ranging from 0. 11 to 0. 59 g/cm ³, and compressive strength did not increase with BD. Emission analysis indicated that sample D had the highest levels of PM₂. ₅ (86. 33±3. 06 µg/m ³), PM₁₀ (251. 00±1. 00 µg/m ³), and CO (34±1. 01 ppm), while sample C exhibited the lowest emissions. Molasses serves as a superior binder for water hyacinth briquettes, enhancing combustion quality and reducing emissions relative to plantain peel.