A review on sustainable approach for biohydrogen production from agricultural waste

Saurabh Verma1*, Deepika Mishra1, Jiwan Singh1, Dhamodharan Kondusamy2

1Department of Environmental Science, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University Lucknow- 226025, India

2Department of Energy and Environment, Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology, Patiala, India

Cite this article: Verma, S., Mishra, D., Singh J., Dhamodharan, K., 2025. A review on sustainable approach for biohydrogen production from agricultural waste. J. Appl. Sci. Innov. Technol. 4 (2), 47-55.

Highlights

  • Organic waste (Lignocellulosic, food) is converted to renewable biohydrogen via biofermentation.
  • The end product of biofermentation of is nutrient rich digestate that can be utilized as organic fertilizer.
  • Critical challenges in biohydrogen production are low yield, oxygen sensitivity of hydrogenase enzyme.
  • Biohydrogen might reduce the dependency of fossil fuels contributing to the significant reduction of carbon footprint caused by fossil fuels.
  • Advances in technology, decentralized system and policies like National Green Hydrogen Mission enhance biohydrogen production and adoption.

Abstract

The global rise in population is leading to higher consumption of energy and food. Increasing the reliance on fossil fuel which are generating ample amount of organic waste. Dependency on fossil fuel is continuously increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emission and global carbon footprint. In current scenario we need alternative of fossil fuel for energy security, which is eco-friendly, cost effective and scalable. Biohydrogen production from organic waste will be the best alternative. The process utilizes organic waste as substrate, which is fermented by microorganism to produce biohydrogen gas. Although biohydrogen is a promising alternative as fuel, it hasn’t reached its theoretical maximum production limit. This review explains the existingdrawbacks unique (accumulation of by-products, oxygen sensitivity of the enzymes, high energy demand, low light conversion efficiency, pH imbalance and acidification, scaling up and reactor design) to each method. Along with various microbial strains and species applied across the different biological methods for hydrogen production.The yield is also showing a variation from species to species and substrate to substrate. The aim of the study was to compare the existing data collected from various studies such as review and research paper to understand each drawback in order to overcome them, which will help in industrialization of biohydrogen.

Keywords: Biohydrogen; Biohydrogen production; Biological methods; Organic waste

Scope: Environmental Science & Technology

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