Abstract
The efficient use of renewable raw materials derived from biomass and waste feedstocks as a source of fuel has become a concern and, at the same time, an opportunity for today’s society, with the challenge of achieving an increasingly sustainable planet. Biomass is one of the most abundant renewable resources in all continents and this is the main reason why research into alternative uses and valorization of biomass (in particular recalcitrant biomass) is receiving more and more attention, with a focus on the potential application of waste-to-energy conversion. Huge amounts of agricultural and forestry residues and industrial and municipal organic waste or exhaust digestate are available, ready for use, anywhere in the world. Furthermore, modern societies and economies produce increasing amounts of nonrecyclable waste. For instance, multicomponent and inseparable materials result from the municipal waste separation process. This residual stream still contains around 24% of organic matter, 28% of paper and cardboard, 25% of plastic materials, and 9% of textiles, among other elements, but the specific characteristics of such materials currently do not enable their reuse or recycling. As a consequence, such materials are deposited in landfills, incinerated without energy recovery, or disposed of otherwise. However, with the proper process, these materials can also be used to produce biohydrogen and other renewable gases as clean sources of energy, with multiple potential benefits for sustainable development. This chapter provides an overview of existing opportunities for the production of biohydrogen from different sources, also making reference to other related energy vectors that could develop in parallel such as biomethane and other forms of green hydrogen. The future prospects of biohydrogen in the current society are also discussed.
Keywords
- Biohydrogen
- Energy transition
- Green hydrogen, renewable gases
- Waste-to-energy
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Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge support of this work by CYTED (Ibero-American Program of Science and Technology for Development) in the frame of the H2TRANSEL network (Ref. 721RT0122) and by the CDTI-Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation in the frame of the project H24NEWAGE (Ref. CER-20211002).
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Hidalgo, D., Martín-Marroquín, J.M., Díez, D. (2022). Biohydrogen: Future Energy Source for the Society. In: Kuddus, M., Yunus, G., Ramteke, P.W., Molina, G. (eds) Organic Waste to Biohydrogen. Clean Energy Production Technologies. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-1995-4_12
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