The project will focus on utilising invasive aquatic macrophytes such as water hyacinth in combination with nutrient rich waste and immobilised microbial systems to maximise the production of biogas whilst generating clean water and recovering nutrients in low income communities, by developing innovative biotechnology solutions that promote resource efficiency and long-term sustainable services. The project will provide practical solutions for processing water hyacinth with other wastes (e.g. faecal matter, food waste) in novel bioreactors. These ought to be capable of producing affordable clean energy (as per the UN's Sustainable Development Goal # 7- a.k.a. SDG 7) with improved biogas yields and quality, and be suitable for use in cooking, refrigeration and power generation. The proposed processes of biogas production will be designed to be scaled appropriately to either urban areas (cities) and to smaller communities such as villages and schools (SDG 11). In addition, the integrated approaches will allow the potential for the recovery of valuable nutrients from the macrophyte feedstock for growing food and for the production of clean water. The integrated approaches will result in reduced emissions and health impacts associated with combustion of wood (SDG 3) and support more sustainable use of biomass resources (SDG 13). The use of aquatic macrophytes as an alternative biomass resource for energy generation can mitigate the over-reliance on firewood for cooking, thus promoting a more sustainable use of biomass resources (SDG 12). It also provides a solution to the growing problem in many African and Asian regions associated with invasive macrophytes resulting from eutrophication and pollution associated with poor sanitation and regulation of industry (SDG 6, 9 and 13). BEFWAM will support knowledge transfer from high- and mid-income countries (UK and India) to low-income countries in Africa (Uganda) and the delivery of training and supporting partnerships between stakeholders and local business.This will be effected through the application of the innovative technologies developed within the project while all stages of development are to be informed by the analysis of the social implications of energy production from macrophytes and waste. Special emphasis of the social analysis will be devoted to the gender-poverty nexus.

Aim, scope and research objectives: The project will focus on using invasive aquatic macrophytes (water hyacinth) and nutrient rich waste (manure, faecal sludge) in combination with immobilised microbial systems to facilitate the production of biogas, clean water and recovery of nutrients in developing countries. This will be addressed by: evaluating new pre-treatments; identifying mixed consortia of micro-organisms for the enzymatic degradation of water hyacinth; and development of optimum integration strategies for maximising biogas production. Our project has a focus on low-income countries (Uganda) and promotes knowledge transfer from mid-income (India) and high-income (UK) countries. The BEFWAM project has the following research objectives: (i) Optimise the use of pre-treatment, co-digestion and reactor configuration to maximise bio-methane yields (ii) Investigate the integration of single and multi-stage anaerobic digestion for biomethane production (iii) Develop the use of carbon additives (hydrochar, biochar, charcoal) for improving conversion and product quality. (iv) Develop suitable approaches for upgrading biogas into high-quality methane to diversify its use (cooking, power generation, refrigeration, transportation, etc.) (v) Understand the environmental and socioeconomic impacts of using water hyacinth for biogas production (vi) Demonstrate the innovation development beyond pilot scale in India and Uganda