title: Recent insights into biohydrogen production by microalgae - From biophotolysis to dark fermentation.
abstract: One of the best options to alleviate the problems associated with global warming and climate change is to reduce burning of fossil fuels and search for new alternative energy resources. In case of biodiesel and bioethanol production, the choice of feedstock and the process design influences the GHG emissions and appropriate methods need to be adapted. Hydrogen is a zero-carbon and energy dense alternative energy carrier with clean burning properties and biohydrogen production by microalgae can reduce production associated GHG emissions to a great extent. Biohydrogen can be produced through dark fermentation using sugars, starch, or cellulosic materials. Microalgae-based biohydrogen production is recently regarded as a promising pathway for biohydrogen production via photolysis or being a substrate for anaerobic fermentation. This review lists the methods of hydrogen production by microalgae. The enzymes involved and the factors affecting the biohydrogen production process are discussed. The bottlenecks in microalgae-based biohydrogen production are critically reviewed and future research areas in hydrogen production are presented.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan; Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Dillirani
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nagarajan
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Duu-Jong
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Science and Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Kobe University, 1-1 Rokkodai, Nada-ku, Kobe 657-8501, Japan; Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology, Japan Science and Technology Agency, 3-5 Sanbancho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0075, Japan; Biomass Engineering Program, RIKEN, 1-7-22 Suehiro, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama 230-0045, Japan.
authors.forename: Akihiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kondo
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan; Research Center for Energy Technology and Strategy, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan. Electronic address: changjs@mail.ncku.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Jo-Shu
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Chang
keywords: Biohydrogen; Cyanobacteria; Dark fermentation; Hydrogenases; Microalgae; Photolysis