Biological processes for hydrogen production

Abstract

Methane is produced usually from organic waste in a straightforward anaerobic digestion process. However, hydrogen production is technically more challenging as more stages are needed to convert all biomass to hydrogen because of thermodynamic constraints. Nevertheless, the benefit of hydrogen is that it can be produced, both biologically and thermochemically, in more than one way from either organic compounds or water. Research in biological hydrogen production is booming, as reflected by the myriad of recently published reviews on the topic. This overview is written from the perspective of how to transfer as much energy as possible from the feedstock into the gaseous products hydrogen, and to a lesser extent, methane. The status and remaining challenges of all the biological processes are concisely discussed.