Solar Fuels

5Shedding Light on the Production of Biohydrogen from Algae

Thummala Chandrasekhar^1* and Vankara Anuprasanna²

¹Department of Environmental Science, Yogi Vemana University, Kadapa, A.P., India

²Department of Animal Science, Yogi Vemana University, Kadapa, A.P., India

Abstract

It is a well-known fact that fossil fuels cannot be regenerated or renewed in a short duration and therefore research on renewable energy resources, such as solar energy, wind energy, geothermal energy, bioenergy, etc., is a hot topic in recent times. Production of biomass-based hydrogen or biohydrogen (H₂) is considered as a best alternative source of energy that offer large potential benefits. Moreover, biohydrogen is a cleanest fuel with energy efficiency, and its production does not lead to any pollution. Production of hydrogen from photosynthetic algae is well established recently, but the output has to reach all the income groups of the society which is the ultimate goal in energy research. Algae are the potential candidate species for the production of biofuels due to their simple life cycle with efficient photosynthetic capacity. In certain places, these algal species are neglected and remained as waste. In this regard, mechanisms of hydrogen production from algae were emphasized in this chapter. In addition, the factors that influence the hydrogen production were also discussed. Overall, this chapter intends to summarize the developments in hydrogen production from certain algal species, which is ...