Parthenium hysterophorus: From Weed to Eco-friendly Solution for Biogas and Waste Water Treatment

Abstract

Parthenium hysterophorus L. (Asteraceae), also known as carrot grass or congress grass, is one of the most prolific invasive weeds, endangering agricultural landscapes and natural ecosystems. This notorious plant has recently been shown to have a wide range of innovative uses, such as the elimination of aquatic weeds and the removal of dye and heavy metals from contaminated water. P. hysterophorus has been used for nano-catalytic gasification, which uses Co and Ni as nanocatalysts to produce biofuels (biogas, biodiesel, and charcoal). These weeds contain minimum nutritional values but can be used effectively in production of biofuels. It is also added to cattle dung as an additive to produce biogas, with the prevalence of this weed and the vast number of cattle in India, P. hysterophorus should be given careful consideration as a substrate for anaerobic digestion-based biogas production. Heavy metal pollution of the environment is becoming a worldwide problem. Wastewater contaminated by heavy metals such as chromium, nickel and cadmium need to be treated using affordable alternative technologies or absorbents, particularly in developing countries like India. P. hysterophorus is found to be an effective adsorbent of Cr, Ni and Cd. It is used to generate activated carbon, which is a very effective adsorbent material produced through chemical activation using concentrated H2SO4. The concerns with industrial wastewater contamination have led to an increase in the use of activated carbon made from P. hysterophorus for wastewater treatment.