IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v14y2021i19p6025-d640644.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Microalgal Hydrogen Production in Relation to Other Biomass-Based Technologies—A Review

Author

Listed:
  • Marcin Dębowski

    (Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Geoengineering, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, 10-720 Olsztyn, Poland)

  • Magda Dudek

    (Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Geoengineering, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, 10-720 Olsztyn, Poland)

  • Marcin Zieliński

    (Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Geoengineering, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, 10-720 Olsztyn, Poland)

  • Anna Nowicka

    (Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Geoengineering, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, 10-720 Olsztyn, Poland)

  • Joanna Kazimierowicz

    (Department of Water Supply and Sewage Systems, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Environmental Sciences, Bialystok University of Technology, 15-351 Bialystok, Poland)

Abstract

Hydrogen is an environmentally friendly biofuel which, if widely used, could reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions. The main barrier to the widespread use of hydrogen for power generation is the lack of technologically feasible and—more importantly—cost-effective methods of production and storage. So far, hydrogen has been produced using thermochemical methods (such as gasification, pyrolysis or water electrolysis) and biological methods (most of which involve anaerobic digestion and photofermentation), with conventional fuels, waste or dedicated crop biomass used as a feedstock. Microalgae possess very high photosynthetic efficiency, can rapidly build biomass, and possess other beneficial properties, which is why they are considered to be one of the strongest contenders among biohydrogen production technologies. This review gives an account of present knowledge on microalgal hydrogen production and compares it with the other available biofuel production technologies.

Suggested Citation

  • Marcin Dębowski & Magda Dudek & Marcin Zieliński & Anna Nowicka & Joanna Kazimierowicz, 2021. "Microalgal Hydrogen Production in Relation to Other Biomass-Based Technologies—A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-27, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:19:p:6025-:d:640644
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/19/6025/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/19/6025/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jose R. Contreras-Angulo & Teresa M. Mata & Sara P. Cuellar-Bermudez & Nidia S. Caetano & Rashmi Chandra & J. Saul Garcia-Perez & Koenraad Muylaert & Roberto Parra-Saldivar, 2019. "Symbiotic Co-Culture of Scenedesmus sp. and Azospirillum brasilense on N-Deficient Media with Biomass Production for Biofuels," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-16, January.
    2. Michela Costa & Maurizio La Villetta & Daniele Piazzullo & Domenico Cirillo, 2021. "A Phenomenological Model of a Downdraft Biomass Gasifier Flexible to the Feedstock Composition and the Reactor Design," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-29, July.
    3. Zieliński, Marcin & Korzeniewska, Ewa & Filipkowska, Zofia & Dębowski, Marcin & Harnisz, Monika & Kwiatkowski, Rafał, 2017. "Biohydrogen production at low load of organic matter by psychrophilic bacteria," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 1132-1139.
    4. Antonio Molino & Vincenzo Larocca & Simeone Chianese & Dino Musmarra, 2018. "Biofuels Production by Biomass Gasification: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-31, March.
    5. Sara Rajabi Hamedani & Mauro Villarini & Andrea Colantoni & Michele Moretti & Enrico Bocci, 2018. "Life Cycle Performance of Hydrogen Production via Agro-Industrial Residue Gasification—A Small Scale Power Plant Study," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-19, March.
    6. Guoqiang Wang & Feng Wang & Bohong Chen, 2020. "Performance Study on Methanol Steam Reforming Rib Micro-Reactor with Waste Heat Recovery," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-18, March.
    7. Daniele Castello & Thomas Helmer Pedersen & Lasse Aistrup Rosendahl, 2018. "Continuous Hydrothermal Liquefaction of Biomass: A Critical Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-35, November.
    8. Tadeusz Mączka & Halina Pawlak-Kruczek & Lukasz Niedzwiecki & Edward Ziaja & Artur Chorążyczewski, 2020. "Plasma Assisted Combustion as a Cost-Effective Way for Balancing of Intermittent Sources: Techno-Economic Assessment for 200 MW el Power Unit," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-16, September.
    9. Xianbin Xiao & Xueying Wang & Zongming Zheng & Wu Qin & Yumengqiu Zhou, 2019. "Catalytic Coal Gasification Process Simulation with Alkaline Organic Wastewater in a Fluidized Bed Reactor Using Aspen Plus," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-18, April.
    10. Tran Thi Giang & Siriporn Lunprom & Qiang Liao & Alissara Reungsang & Apilak Salakkam, 2019. "Enhancing Hydrogen Production from Chlorella sp. Biomass by Pre-Hydrolysis with Simultaneous Saccharification and Fermentation (PSSF)," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-14, March.
    11. Asadullah, Mohammad, 2014. "Barriers of commercial power generation using biomass gasification gas: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 201-215.
    12. Hong, Yong C. & Lee, Sang J. & Shin, Dong H. & Kim, Ye J. & Lee, Bong J. & Cho, Seong Y. & Chang, Han S., 2012. "Syngas production from gasification of brown coal in a microwave torch plasma," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 36-40.
    13. Lin, Kuang C. & Lin, Yuan-Chung & Hsiao, Yi-Hsing, 2014. "Microwave plasma studies of Spirulina algae pyrolysis with relevance to hydrogen production," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 567-574.
    14. Zhang, Yanting & Fan, Xiaolei & Yang, Zhiman & Wang, Huanyu & Yang, Dawei & Guo, Rongbo, 2012. "Characterization of H2 photoproduction by a new marine green alga, Platymonas helgolandica var. tsingtaoensis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 38-43.
    15. Se-Won Park & Sang-Yeop Lee & Yean-Ouk Jeong & Gun-Ho Han & Yong-Chil Seo, 2018. "Effects of Oxygen Enrichment in Air Oxidants on Biomass Gasification Efficiency and the Reduction of Tar Emissions," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-13, October.
    16. Hu, Zhiquan & Zheng, Yang & Yan, Feng & Xiao, Bo & Liu, Shiming, 2013. "Bio-oil production through pyrolysis of blue-green algae blooms (BGAB): Product distribution and bio-oil characterization," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 119-125.
    17. Haorui Zhang & Jiaolin Li & Quanguo Zhang & Shengnan Zhu & Shuai Yang & Zhiping Zhang, 2020. "Effect of Substrate Concentration on Photo-Fermentation Bio-Hydrogen Production Process from Starch-Rich Agricultural Leftovers under Oscillation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-8, March.
    18. Chen, Scarlett & Kumar, Anikesh & Wong, Wee Chin & Chiu, Min-Sen & Wang, Xiaonan, 2019. "Hydrogen value chain and fuel cells within hybrid renewable energy systems: Advanced operation and control strategies," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 233, pages 321-337.
    19. Marcin Dębowski & Marcin Zieliński & Joanna Kazimierowicz & Natalia Kujawska & Szymon Talbierz, 2020. "Microalgae Cultivation Technologies as an Opportunity for Bioenergetic System Development—Advantages and Limitations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-37, November.
    20. Dębowski, Marcin & Zieliński, Marcin & Grala, Anna & Dudek, Magda, 2013. "Algae biomass as an alternative substrate in biogas production technologies—Review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 596-604.
    21. Yiyang Liu & Jingluo Min & Xingyu Feng & Yue He & Jinze Liu & Yixiao Wang & Jun He & Hainam Do & Valérie Sage & Gang Yang & Yong Sun, 2020. "A Review of Biohydrogen Productions from Lignocellulosic Precursor via Dark Fermentation: Perspective on Hydrolysate Composition and Electron-Equivalent Balance," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-27, May.
    22. Nicu Bizon & Mircea Raceanu & Emmanouel Koudoumas & Adriana Marinoiu & Emmanuel Karapidakis & Elena Carcadea, 2020. "Renewable/Fuel Cell Hybrid Power System Operation Using Two Search Controllers of the Optimal Power Needed on the DC Bus," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-26, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Magda Dudek & Marcin Dębowski & Anna Nowicka & Joanna Kazimierowicz & Marcin Zieliński, 2022. "The Effect of Autotrophic Cultivation of Platymonas subcordiformis in Waters from the Natural Aquatic Reservoir on Hydrogen Yield," Resources, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-11, March.
    2. Tomasz Jóźwiak & Urszula Filipkowska & Paulina Walczak, 2022. "The Use of Aminated Wheat Straw for Reactive Black 5 Dye Removal from Aqueous Solutions as a Potential Method of Biomass Valorization," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-19, August.
    3. Eleftherios Touloupakis & Cecilia Faraloni & Ana Margarita Silva Benavides & Giuseppe Torzillo, 2021. "Recent Achievements in Microalgal Photobiological Hydrogen Production," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-17, November.
    4. Jun Sheng Teh & Yew Heng Teoh & Heoy Geok How & Mohamad Yusof Idroas & Thanh Danh Le & Huu Tho Nguyen, 2022. "Experimental Studies of Combustion and Emission Characteristics of Biomass Producer Gas (BPG) in a Constant Volume Combustion Chamber (CVCC) System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-18, October.
    5. Joanna Kazimierowicz & Marcin Dębowski & Marcin Zieliński, 2022. "Progress and Challenges in Biohydrogen Production," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-3, July.
    6. Marcin Zieliński & Marcin Dębowski & Joanna Kazimierowicz & Izabela Świca, 2023. "Microalgal Carbon Dioxide (CO 2 ) Capture and Utilization from the European Union Perspective," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-27, February.
    7. Joanna Kazimierowicz & Marcin Dębowski & Marcin Zieliński, 2022. "Effectiveness of Hydrogen Production by Bacteroides vulgatus in Psychrophilic Fermentation of Cattle Slurry," Clean Technol., MDPI, vol. 4(3), pages 1-9, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Owen Sedej & Eric Mbonimpa & Trevor Sleight & Jeremy Slagley, 2022. "Application of Machine Learning to Predict the Performance of an EMIPG Reactor Using Data from Numerical Simulations," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-22, March.
    2. Andrea Porcu & Stefano Sollai & Davide Marotto & Mauro Mureddu & Francesca Ferrara & Alberto Pettinau, 2019. "Techno-Economic Analysis of a Small-Scale Biomass-to-Energy BFB Gasification-Based System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-17, February.
    3. Arun, J. & Raghu, R. & Suhail Madhar Hanif, S. & Thilak, P.G. & Sridhar, D. & Nirmala, N. & Dawn, S.S. & Sivaramakrishnan, R. & Chi, Nguyen Thuy Lan & Pugazhendhi, Arivalagan, 2022. "A comparative review on photo and mixotrophic mode of algae cultivation: Thermochemical processing of biomass, necessity of bio-oil upgrading, challenges and future roadmaps," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 325(C).
    4. Czylkowski, Dariusz & Hrycak, Bartosz & Jasiński, Mariusz & Dors, Mirosław & Mizeraczyk, Jerzy, 2016. "Microwave plasma-based method of hydrogen production via combined steam reforming of methane," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 653-661.
    5. Magda Dudek & Marcin Dębowski & Anna Nowicka & Joanna Kazimierowicz & Marcin Zieliński, 2022. "The Effect of Autotrophic Cultivation of Platymonas subcordiformis in Waters from the Natural Aquatic Reservoir on Hydrogen Yield," Resources, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-11, March.
    6. Maity, Jyoti Prakash & Bundschuh, Jochen & Chen, Chien-Yen & Bhattacharya, Prosun, 2014. "Microalgae for third generation biofuel production, mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions and wastewater treatment: Present and future perspectives – A mini review," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 104-113.
    7. Suopajärvi, Hannu & Umeki, Kentaro & Mousa, Elsayed & Hedayati, Ali & Romar, Henrik & Kemppainen, Antti & Wang, Chuan & Phounglamcheik, Aekjuthon & Tuomikoski, Sari & Norberg, Nicklas & Andefors, Alf , 2018. "Use of biomass in integrated steelmaking – Status quo, future needs and comparison to other low-CO2 steel production technologies," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 213(C), pages 384-407.
    8. Octávio Alves & Luís Calado & Roberta M. Panizio & Catarina Nobre & Eliseu Monteiro & Paulo Brito & Margarida Gonçalves, 2022. "Gasification of Solid Recovered Fuels with Variable Fractions of Polymeric Materials," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-19, November.
    9. Zhuang, Rui & Wang, Xiaonan & Guo, Miao & Zhao, Yingru & El-Farra, Nael H. & Palazoglu, Ahmet, 2020. "Waste-to-hydrogen: Recycling HCl to produce H2 and Cl2," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 259(C).
    10. Liu, Guangmin & Qiao, Lina & Zhang, Hong & Zhao, Dan & Su, Xudong, 2014. "The effects of illumination factors on the growth and HCO3− fixation of microalgae in an experiment culture system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 40-47.
    11. Zhang, Chen & Sun, Zongxuan, 2017. "Trajectory-based combustion control for renewable fuels in free piston engines," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 72-83.
    12. Ramos, Ana & Monteiro, Eliseu & Rouboa, Abel, 2019. "Numerical approaches and comprehensive models for gasification process: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 188-206.
    13. Hussain, Fida & Shah, Syed Z. & Ahmad, Habib & Abubshait, Samar A. & Abubshait, Haya A. & Laref, A. & Manikandan, A. & Kusuma, Heri S. & Iqbal, Munawar, 2021. "Microalgae an ecofriendly and sustainable wastewater treatment option: Biomass application in biofuel and bio-fertilizer production. A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    14. Giulio Allesina & Simone Pedrazzi, 2021. "Barriers to Success: A Technical Review on the Limits and Possible Future Roles of Small Scale Gasifiers," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-23, October.
    15. Fernand, Francois & Israel, Alvaro & Skjermo, Jorunn & Wichard, Thomas & Timmermans, Klaas R. & Golberg, Alexander, 2017. "Offshore macroalgae biomass for bioenergy production: Environmental aspects, technological achievements and challenges," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 35-45.
    16. Gheorghe Lazaroiu & Lucian Mihaescu & Gabriel Negreanu & Constantin Pana & Ionel Pisa & Alexandru Cernat & Dana-Alexandra Ciupageanu, 2018. "Experimental Investigations of Innovative Biomass Energy Harnessing Solutions," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-18, December.
    17. Liu, Liwei & Ye, Junhong & Zhao, Yufei & Zhao, Erdong, 2015. "The plight of the biomass power generation industry in China – A supply chain risk perspective," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 680-692.
    18. Bizon, Nicu, 2019. "Efficient fuel economy strategies for the Fuel Cell Hybrid Power Systems under variable renewable/load power profile," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 251(C), pages 1-1.
    19. Andrea Di Giuliano & Stefania Lucantonio & Katia Gallucci, 2021. "Devolatilization of Residual Biomasses for Chemical Looping Gasification in Fluidized Beds Made Up of Oxygen-Carriers," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-16, January.
    20. Elhambakhsh, Abbas & Van Duc Long, Nguyen & Lamichhane, Pradeep & Hessel, Volker, 2023. "Recent progress and future directions in plasma-assisted biomass conversion to hydrogen," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:19:p:6025-:d:640644. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.