Biohydrogen from Microalgae: Production and Applications

Abstract

The need to safeguard our planet by reducing carbon dioxide emissions has led to a significant development of research in the field of alternative energy sources. Hydrogen has proved to be the most promising molecule, as a fuel, due to its low environmental impact. Even if various methods already exist for producing hydrogen, most of them are not sustainable. Thus, research focuses on the biological sector, studying microalgae, and other microorganisms’ ability to produce this precious molecule in a natural way. In this review, we provide a description of the biochemical and molecular processes for the production of biohydrogen and give a general overview of one of the most interesting technologies in which hydrogen finds application for electricity production: fuel cells.

Keywords

• green fuel
• biohydrogen
• microalgae
• <i>Chlamydomonas reinhardtii</i>
• hydrogenase
• fuel cell