Hydrogen generation from algae: A review

Abstract

The study focuses on the research involved in generating hydrogen using algae as a renewable energy resource. Due to the decline in fossil fuel resource, the energy derived from biomass seems to be the only major source of world's renewable energy. The hydrogen derived from algae is promising due to its sustainability, no green house gases emission during the combustion of hydrogen and security of its supply even at remote places. The novel approach of generating hydrogen at commercial scale from algae has been a curiosity among many researchers till today. This review study updates the research involved in hydrogen generation from algae based on light intensity and its photoperiod, nitrogen and sulfur content, fermentative metabolism and symbiosis. The following algal species had been widely investigated for hydrogen production namely: Chlamydomonas, Anabaena, Chorella, Oscillatoria, Scenedesmus and their mutant. The generation of hydrogen from algae is still at research level. Hence, this review would be an eye opener for researchers who are interested in generating hydrogen from algae. © 2010 Academic Journals Inc.