Recent Advances in Biomass Pretreatment Technologies for Biohydrogen Production

Harshita Singh, Sakshi Tomar, Kamal A. Qureshi, Mariusz Jaremko and Pankaj K. Rai
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Harshita Singh: Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Biosciences, Invertis University, Bareilly 243123, India
Sakshi Tomar: Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Biosciences, Invertis University, Bareilly 243123, India
Kamal A. Qureshi: Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Biosciences, Invertis University, Bareilly 243123, India
Mariusz Jaremko: Smart-Health Initiative (SHI) and Red Sea Research Center (RSRC), Division of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering (BESE), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal 23955, Saudi Arabia
Pankaj K. Rai: Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Biosciences, Invertis University, Bareilly 243123, India

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 3, 1-22

Abstract: Hydrogen is an economical source of clean energy that has been utilized by industry for decades. In recent years, demand for hydrogen has risen significantly. Hydrogen sources include water electrolysis, hydrocarbon steam reforming, and fossil fuels, which emit hazardous greenhouse gases and therefore have a negative impact on global warming. The increasing worldwide population has created much pressure on natural fuels, with a growing gap between demand for renewable energy and its insufficient supply. As a result, the environment has suffered from alarming increases in pollution levels. Biohydrogen is a sustainable energy form and a preferable substitute for fossil fuel. Anaerobic fermentation, photo fermentation, microbial and enzymatic photolysis or combinations of such techniques are new approaches for producing biohydrogen. For cost-effective biohydrogen production, the substrate should be cheap and renewable. Substrates including algal biomass, agriculture residue, and wastewaters are readily available. Moreover, substrates rich in starch and cellulose such as plant stalks or agricultural waste, or food industry waste such as cheese whey are reported to support dark- and photo-fermentation. However, their direct utilization as a substrate is not recommended due to their complex nature. Therefore, they must be pretreated before use to release fermentable sugars. Various pretreatment technologies have been established and are still being developed. This article focuses on pretreatment techniques for biohydrogen production and discusses their efficiency and suitability, including hybrid-treatment technology.

Keywords: biohydrogen; feedstock; fermentation; fossil fuel; global warming; substrate pretreatment (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: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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