Biohydrogen Production: Strategies to Improve Process Efficiency through Microbial Routes
The current fossil fuel-based generation of energy has led to large-scale industrial development. However, the reliance on fossil fuels leads to the significant depletion of natural resources of buried combustible geologic deposits and to negative effects on the global climate with emissions of gree...
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doaj-9048a1fcd0ae451cbafb4272913dcb8c2020-11-24T22:57:38ZengMDPI AGInternational Journal of Molecular Sciences1422-00672015-04-011648266829310.3390/ijms16048266ijms16048266Biohydrogen Production: Strategies to Improve Process Efficiency through Microbial RoutesKuppam Chandrasekhar0Yong-Jik Lee1Dong-Woo Lee2School of Applied Biosciences, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 702-701, KoreaSchool of Applied Biosciences, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 702-701, KoreaSchool of Applied Biosciences, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 702-701, KoreaThe current fossil fuel-based generation of energy has led to large-scale industrial development. However, the reliance on fossil fuels leads to the significant depletion of natural resources of buried combustible geologic deposits and to negative effects on the global climate with emissions of greenhouse gases. Accordingly, enormous efforts are directed to transition from fossil fuels to nonpolluting and renewable energy sources. One potential alternative is biohydrogen (H2), a clean energy carrier with high-energy yields; upon the combustion of H2, H2O is the only major by-product. In recent decades, the attractive and renewable characteristics of H2 led us to develop a variety of biological routes for the production of H2. Based on the mode of H2 generation, the biological routes for H2 production are categorized into four groups: photobiological fermentation, anaerobic fermentation, enzymatic and microbial electrolysis, and a combination of these processes. Thus, this review primarily focuses on the evaluation of the biological routes for the production of H2. In particular, we assess the efficiency and feasibility of these bioprocesses with respect to the factors that affect operations, and we delineate the limitations. Additionally, alternative options such as bioaugmentation, multiple process integration, and microbial electrolysis to improve process efficiency are discussed to address industrial-level applications.http://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/16/4/8266biohydrogendark fermentationphotofermentationbioenergyrenewable resources |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Kuppam Chandrasekhar Yong-Jik Lee Dong-Woo Lee |
spellingShingle |
Kuppam Chandrasekhar Yong-Jik Lee Dong-Woo Lee Biohydrogen Production: Strategies to Improve Process Efficiency through Microbial Routes International Journal of Molecular Sciences biohydrogen dark fermentation photofermentation bioenergy renewable resources |
author_facet |
Kuppam Chandrasekhar Yong-Jik Lee Dong-Woo Lee |
author_sort |
Kuppam Chandrasekhar |
title |
Biohydrogen Production: Strategies to Improve Process Efficiency through Microbial Routes |
title_short |
Biohydrogen Production: Strategies to Improve Process Efficiency through Microbial Routes |
title_full |
Biohydrogen Production: Strategies to Improve Process Efficiency through Microbial Routes |
title_fullStr |
Biohydrogen Production: Strategies to Improve Process Efficiency through Microbial Routes |
title_full_unstemmed |
Biohydrogen Production: Strategies to Improve Process Efficiency through Microbial Routes |
title_sort |
biohydrogen production: strategies to improve process efficiency through microbial routes |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
International Journal of Molecular Sciences |
issn |
1422-0067 |
publishDate |
2015-04-01 |
description |
The current fossil fuel-based generation of energy has led to large-scale industrial development. However, the reliance on fossil fuels leads to the significant depletion of natural resources of buried combustible geologic deposits and to negative effects on the global climate with emissions of greenhouse gases. Accordingly, enormous efforts are directed to transition from fossil fuels to nonpolluting and renewable energy sources. One potential alternative is biohydrogen (H2), a clean energy carrier with high-energy yields; upon the combustion of H2, H2O is the only major by-product. In recent decades, the attractive and renewable characteristics of H2 led us to develop a variety of biological routes for the production of H2. Based on the mode of H2 generation, the biological routes for H2 production are categorized into four groups: photobiological fermentation, anaerobic fermentation, enzymatic and microbial electrolysis, and a combination of these processes. Thus, this review primarily focuses on the evaluation of the biological routes for the production of H2. In particular, we assess the efficiency and feasibility of these bioprocesses with respect to the factors that affect operations, and we delineate the limitations. Additionally, alternative options such as bioaugmentation, multiple process integration, and microbial electrolysis to improve process efficiency are discussed to address industrial-level applications. |
topic |
biohydrogen dark fermentation photofermentation bioenergy renewable resources |
url |
http://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/16/4/8266 |
work_keys_str_mv |
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