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Technological Advances in Biohydrogen Production from Microalgae

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Algal Biofuels

Abstract

Hydrogen has been recognized as a promising alternative to traditional sources of energy, as it is renewable, readily available, environment friendly and does not produce harmful emissions, when burned. Biological hydrogen production has been carried out largely using microalgae and bacteria (dark fermentation). Microalgae can generate hydrogen either by biophotolysis of water or through photofermentation. Two enzymes, viz., hydrogenase and nitrogenase, perform critical tasks in biological hydrogen production processes. Hydrogenase enzyme has been observed in facultative anaerobic bacteria and green algae such as Scenedesmus obliquus, Chlorococcum littorale, Platymonas subcordiformis and Chlorella fusca. Conversely, microalgae such as Rhodopseudomonas capsulate, Rhodobacter sphaeroides and Rhodospirillum rubrum have been reported for photofermentative hydrogen production. Even though, microalgae have been successfully explored at a laboratory scale for biohydrogen production, low yield has been recognized as a limiting factor for its bulk production and commercialization. Current research is therefore engrossed more on overcoming the key challenges such as O2 sensitivity of hydrogenase enzyme, solar conversion efficiencies for CO2 fixation through genetic engineering and design of low-cost photobioreactors. This chapter primarily includes the various processes for biohydrogen generation using microalgae (photofermentation, direct biophotolysis and indirect biophotolysis), their advantages and limitations. Emphases have also been given on strategies to mitigate the present challenges.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Water and Wastewater Technology, Durban University of Technology, 1334, Durban, 4000, South Africa

    Sheena Kumari & Mahmoud Nasr

  2. Department of Biotechnology and Food Technology, Durban University of Technology, Durban, 4000, South Africa

    Santhosh Kumar

Authors
  1. Sheena Kumari
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  2. Mahmoud Nasr
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  3. Santhosh Kumar
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Correspondence to Sheena Kumari .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, Delhi, India

    Sanjay Kumar Gupta

  2. Applied Microbiology Laboratory, Centre for Rural Development and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, Delhi, India

    Anushree Malik

  3. Institute for Water and Wastewater Technology, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa

    Faizal Bux

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Kumari, S., Nasr, M., Kumar, S. (2017). Technological Advances in Biohydrogen Production from Microalgae. In: Gupta, S., Malik, A., Bux, F. (eds) Algal Biofuels. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51010-1_17

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