Biotechnology for Zero Waste – Emerging Waste Management Techniques (Chaudhery Mustansar Hussain (editor) etc.)

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Advancements in Bio-hydrogen Production from Waste

Biomass

Shyamali Sarma¹and Sankar Chakma²

1Sardar Patel Renewable Energy Research Institute, Bioconversion Technology Division, Vallabh Vidyanagar,

Gujarat, 388 120, India

2Institute of Science Education and Research Bhopal, Department of Chemical Engineering, Bhopal, Madhya

Pradesh, 462 066, India

18.1

Introduction

Fossil fuel-driven energy is prevailing for decades and has led to enormous indus-

trial and economic development across the globe. But, the energy demands with the

growing population of the entire world have led to a fast depletion of fossil resources,

resulting in an energy crisis in the coming years. Moreover, fossil-based energy is

nonrenewable and has adverse effects on climate change due to the emission of toxic

greenhouse gases [1]. In recent decades, renewable energy has gained much atten-

tion with enormous efforts for the transition from fossil fuels to alternative sources

of energy. It has further motivated the scientific community and the policymakers to

investigate, develop, and promote new technologies based on renewable energy. In

recent years, bioethanol and biodiesel have received substantial interest as an alter-

native energy source due to their similar characteristics to conventional liquid fuels,

which makes them compatible with the existing engine configurations. Hydrogen is

another promising alternative clean fuel with high energy and zero waste as it pro-

duces only water as the by-product in combustion. The energy content of hydrogen is

141.9 MJ/kg, which is around three times higher than other conventional fuels (gaso-

line 47 MJ/kg and diesel 45 MJ/kg). Therefore, H2-fueled vehicles have a promising

future due to zero pollution and high efficiency. As a result, the H2 fuel has made a

place at the top in the race of green fuels discovery.

Currently, the commercial production of H2 gas is being performed by both chem-

ical and biochemical methods. Around 95% of the world’s H2 is either produced by a

catalyst-based chemical route from biomass or fossil fuels or by electrolysis of water

producing hydrogen and oxygen [2]. The catalytic route of H2 production involves

Biotechnology for Zero Waste: Emerging Waste Management Techniques, First Edition.

Edited by Chaudhery Mustansar Hussain and Ravi Kumar Kadeppagari.