Renewable Hydrogen from Biomass: Technological Pathways and Economic Perspectives

José Ramón Copa Rey, Cecilia Mateos-Pedrero, Andrei Longo, Bruna Rijo, Paulo Brito, Paulo Ferreira and Catarina Nobre
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José Ramón Copa Rey: VALORIZA—Research Centre for Endogenous Resource Valorization, Portalegre Polytechnic University, Campus Politécnico 10, 7300-555 Portalegre, Portugal
Cecilia Mateos-Pedrero: VALORIZA—Research Centre for Endogenous Resource Valorization, Portalegre Polytechnic University, Campus Politécnico 10, 7300-555 Portalegre, Portugal
Andrei Longo: VALORIZA—Research Centre for Endogenous Resource Valorization, Portalegre Polytechnic University, Campus Politécnico 10, 7300-555 Portalegre, Portugal
Bruna Rijo: VALORIZA—Research Centre for Endogenous Resource Valorization, Portalegre Polytechnic University, Campus Politécnico 10, 7300-555 Portalegre, Portugal
Paulo Brito: VALORIZA—Research Centre for Endogenous Resource Valorization, Portalegre Polytechnic University, Campus Politécnico 10, 7300-555 Portalegre, Portugal
Catarina Nobre: VALORIZA—Research Centre for Endogenous Resource Valorization, Portalegre Polytechnic University, Campus Politécnico 10, 7300-555 Portalegre, Portugal

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 14, 1-36

Abstract: Hydrogen is undeniably one of the most promising options for producing energy with minimal environmental impact. However, current hydrogen production is still derived from carbon-intensive processes relying on fossil fuels. Biomass is a sustainable and versatile resource that can be converted into hydrogen through biological and thermochemical pathways from a large variety of feedstocks and technologies. This work reviews and compares existing biomass-to-hydrogen technologies, focusing on their characteristics, maturity level, benefits, limitations, and techno-economic and lifecycle environmental impacts. Less-developed biological conversion methods are characterized by low efficiencies and hydrogen productivity. More mature thermochemical routes enable higher efficiencies and hydrogen yields. Overall, while thermochemical processes suit centralized large-scale hydrogen production, biological pathways offer decentralized options, necessitating continued innovation for integration into future energy strategies. Some of these technologies, such as anaerobic digestion (best-case: 1.28 EUR/kgH 2 ) and conventional gasification (best-case: 1.79 EUR/kgH 2 ), emerge as promising, sustainable, and affordable alternatives for renewable hydrogen generation, offering production costs comparable to those of natural gas steam reforming (0.92–2.8 EUR/kgH 2 ).

Keywords: renewable hydrogen; biomass; biochemical methods; thermochemical methods; production cost; sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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