Water hyacinth project: From weed to climate savior

Water hyacinth is an invasive aquatic plant that originally comes from the Amazon region in South America. Meanwhile, water hyacinth is spreading rapidly in water bodies in Africa, Asia and America. Here, there are no natural predators, so it can spread unhindered and overgrow the water.

Water hyacinths are the largest natural emitter of methane and thus have great potential for climate protection.

Project impact:

1. Harvesting water hyacinths prevents toxic methane, which would be released into the atmosphere when the plant dies, from entering the atmosphere. The formation of methane is prevented.
2. CO2 binding: Water hyacinths are converted into biochar. Through carbonization, a portion of the absorbed CO2 is bound in the biochar and introduced into the soil as a soil improver. Thus, CO2 is stably fixed in the ground for over a thousand years.
   By improving the soil, depleted soil can be enriched and more plants can be grown, which store CO2 again.