Recent advances in fermentative biohydrogen production

• Published in: International journal of hydrogen energy 2024-02, Vol.54, p.200-217
• Main Authors: Goveas, Louella Concepta, Nayak, Sneha, Kumar, P. Senthil, Vinayagam, Ramesh, Selvaraj, Raja, Rangasamy, Gayathri
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Clostridium; Dark fermentation; Enterobacter; Genetic engineering; Photo fermentation; Purple nonsulfur bacteria
• ISSN: 0360-3199; 1879-3487
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2023.04.208

Utilization of unsustainable fossil fuels as energy resources releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere leading to global warming and environmental pollution. An eye-catching solution would be the production of biological liquids like hydrogen, which is a clean renewable fuel using dark/light fermentative approach. A brief insight into the effect of parameters that could enhance H2 production is the major focus of this review. Although dark/light fermentative approaches for H2 production is known for quite long, scaling up this technology has seen major hurdles. The review thus throws light on the need for novel tactics such as microbial immobilization, nanotechnologies, and genetic engineering to varying the microbial genomes for improvement of H2 yield. Further, thoughts on the difficulties that could be faced and potential solutions about the prospects for H2 technology to be commercially used as a sustainable fuel in the near future are also emphasized. [Display omitted] •Mechanisms of photo and dark fermentation for hydrogen - simplified.•Factors influencing fermentative hydrogen production.•Tactics to enhance biohydrogen production.•Possible hurdles and future prospects – large scale implementation.