IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v17y2024i14p3530-d1437876.html

Renewable Hydrogen from Biomass: Technological Pathways and Economic Perspectives

Author

Listed:
  • José Ramón Copa Rey

    (VALORIZA—Research Centre for Endogenous Resource Valorization, Portalegre Polytechnic University, Campus Politécnico 10, 7300-555 Portalegre, Portugal)

  • Cecilia Mateos-Pedrero

    (VALORIZA—Research Centre for Endogenous Resource Valorization, Portalegre Polytechnic University, Campus Politécnico 10, 7300-555 Portalegre, Portugal)

  • Andrei Longo

    (VALORIZA—Research Centre for Endogenous Resource Valorization, Portalegre Polytechnic University, Campus Politécnico 10, 7300-555 Portalegre, Portugal)

  • Bruna Rijo

    (VALORIZA—Research Centre for Endogenous Resource Valorization, Portalegre Polytechnic University, Campus Politécnico 10, 7300-555 Portalegre, Portugal)

  • Paulo Brito

    (VALORIZA—Research Centre for Endogenous Resource Valorization, Portalegre Polytechnic University, Campus Politécnico 10, 7300-555 Portalegre, Portugal)

  • Paulo Ferreira

    (VALORIZA—Research Centre for Endogenous Resource Valorization, Portalegre Polytechnic University, Campus Politécnico 10, 7300-555 Portalegre, Portugal)

  • Catarina Nobre

    (VALORIZA—Research Centre for Endogenous Resource Valorization, Portalegre Polytechnic University, Campus Politécnico 10, 7300-555 Portalegre, Portugal)

Abstract

Hydrogen is undeniably one of the most promising options for producing energy with minimal environmental impact. However, current hydrogen production is still derived from carbon-intensive processes relying on fossil fuels. Biomass is a sustainable and versatile resource that can be converted into hydrogen through biological and thermochemical pathways from a large variety of feedstocks and technologies. This work reviews and compares existing biomass-to-hydrogen technologies, focusing on their characteristics, maturity level, benefits, limitations, and techno-economic and lifecycle environmental impacts. Less-developed biological conversion methods are characterized by low efficiencies and hydrogen productivity. More mature thermochemical routes enable higher efficiencies and hydrogen yields. Overall, while thermochemical processes suit centralized large-scale hydrogen production, biological pathways offer decentralized options, necessitating continued innovation for integration into future energy strategies. Some of these technologies, such as anaerobic digestion (best-case: 1.28 EUR/kgH 2 ) and conventional gasification (best-case: 1.79 EUR/kgH 2 ), emerge as promising, sustainable, and affordable alternatives for renewable hydrogen generation, offering production costs comparable to those of natural gas steam reforming (0.92–2.8 EUR/kgH 2 ).

Suggested Citation

  • José Ramón Copa Rey & Cecilia Mateos-Pedrero & Andrei Longo & Bruna Rijo & Paulo Brito & Paulo Ferreira & Catarina Nobre, 2024. "Renewable Hydrogen from Biomass: Technological Pathways and Economic Perspectives," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(14), pages 1-36, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:14:p:3530-:d:1437876
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/14/3530/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/14/3530/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gollakota, A.R.K. & Kishore, Nanda & Gu, Sai, 2018. "A review on hydrothermal liquefaction of biomass," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P1), pages 1378-1392.
    2. Hajizadeh, Abdollah & Mohamadi-Baghmolaei, Mohamad & Cata Saady, Noori M. & Zendehboudi, Sohrab, 2022. "Hydrogen production from biomass through integration of anaerobic digestion and biogas dry reforming," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 309(C).
    3. Nizamuddin, Sabzoi & Baloch, Humair Ahmed & Griffin, G.J. & Mubarak, N.M. & Bhutto, Abdul Waheed & Abro, Rashid & Mazari, Shaukat Ali & Ali, Brahim Si, 2017. "An overview of effect of process parameters on hydrothermal carbonization of biomass," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 1289-1299.
    4. Dhyani, Vaibhav & Bhaskar, Thallada, 2018. "A comprehensive review on the pyrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 129(PB), pages 695-716.
    5. Tomasz Kalak, 2023. "Potential Use of Industrial Biomass Waste as a Sustainable Energy Source in the Future," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-25, February.
    6. Pio, D.T. & Tarelho, L.A.C., 2020. "Empirical and chemical equilibrium modelling for prediction of biomass gasification products in bubbling fluidized beds," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    7. Trchounian, Karen & Trchounian, Armen, 2015. "Hydrogen production from glycerol by Escherichia coli and other bacteria: An overview and perspectives," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 174-184.
    8. Byun, Jaewon & Han, Jee-hoon, 2023. "Economic feasible hydrogen production system from carbohydrate-rich food waste," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 340(C).
    9. Hosseinzadeh, Ahmad & Zhou, John L. & Li, Xiaowei & Afsari, Morteza & Altaee, Ali, 2022. "Techno-economic and environmental impact assessment of hydrogen production processes using bio-waste as renewable energy resource," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    10. Al-Qahtani, Amjad & Parkinson, Brett & Hellgardt, Klaus & Shah, Nilay & Guillen-Gosalbez, Gonzalo, 2021. "Uncovering the true cost of hydrogen production routes using life cycle monetisation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 281(C).
    11. Al Arni, Saleh, 2018. "Comparison of slow and fast pyrolysis for converting biomass into fuel," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 197-201.
    12. Janssen, Jacob L.L.C.C. & Weeda, Marcel & Detz, Remko J. & van der Zwaan, Bob, 2022. "Country-specific cost projections for renewable hydrogen production through off-grid electricity systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 309(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Salah, Mohamed & Tsui, To-Hung & Zhang, Le & Smoliński, Adam & Mohamed Rasmey, Abdel-Hamied & Tong, Yen Wah & Liu, Ronghou, 2026. "Progress in enhancing strategies for hydrogen production from microbial fermentation of organic wastes," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 226(PB).
    2. Zdeněk Jegla & Silvio Bonaita & Komi Apélété Amou & Marcus Reppich, 2025. "Assessing the Theoretical Biohydrogen Potential from Agricultural Residues Using Togo as an Example," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-27, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Antonio Picone & Maurizio Volpe & Antonio Messineo, 2021. "Process Water Recirculation during Hydrothermal Carbonization of Waste Biomass: Current Knowledge and Challenges," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-14, May.
    2. Carlos T. Hiranobe & Andressa S. Gomes & Fábio F. G. Paiva & Gabrieli R. Tolosa & Leonardo L. Paim & Guilherme Dognani & Guilherme P. Cardim & Henrique P. Cardim & Renivaldo J. dos Santos & Flávio C. , 2024. "Sugarcane Bagasse: Challenges and Opportunities for Waste Recycling," Clean Technol., MDPI, vol. 6(2), pages 1-38, June.
    3. Zhao, Ming & Memon, Muhammad Zaki & Ji, Guozhao & Yang, Xiaoxiao & Vuppaladadiyam, Arun K. & Song, Yinqiang & Raheem, Abdul & Li, Jinhui & Wang, Wei & Zhou, Hui, 2020. "Alkali metal bifunctional catalyst-sorbents enabled biomass pyrolysis for enhanced hydrogen production," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 168-175.
    4. Kumar, R. & Strezov, V., 2021. "Thermochemical production of bio-oil: A review of downstream processing technologies for bio-oil upgrading, production of hydrogen and high value-added products," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    5. Aditiya, H.B. & Mahlia, T.M.I. & Huang, Z., 2026. "Scaling green hydrogen: Production, storage, techno-economics and global perspectives," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 226(PD).
    6. Gupta, Shubhi & Gupta, Goutam Kishore & Mondal, Monoj Kumar, 2019. "Slow pyrolysis of chemically treated walnut shell for valuable products: Effect of process parameters and in-depth product analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 665-676.
    7. Lech Nowicki & Dorota Siuta & Maciej Markowski, 2020. "Pyrolysis of Rapeseed Oil Press Cake and Steam Gasification of Solid Residues," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-12, August.
    8. Munir, M. Tajammal & Mansouri, Seyed Soheil & Udugama, Isuru A. & Baroutian, Saeid & Gernaey, Krist V. & Young, Brent R., 2018. "Resource recovery from organic solid waste using hydrothermal processing: Opportunities and challenges," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 64-75.
    9. Pio, D.T. & Tarelho, L.A.C. & Pinto, P.C.R., 2020. "Gasification-based biorefinery integration in the pulp and paper industry: A critical review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    10. Božidar Matin & Ivan Brandić & Ana Matin & Josip Ištvanić & Alan Antonović, 2024. "Possibilities of Liquefied Spruce ( Picea abies ) and Oak ( Quercus robur ) Biomass as an Environmentally Friendly Additive in Conventional Phenol–Formaldehyde Resin Wood Adhesives," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-18, September.
    11. Wądrzyk, Mariusz & Grzywacz, Przemysław & Janus, Rafał & Michalik, Marek, 2021. "A two-stage processing of cherry pomace via hydrothermal treatment followed by biochar gasification," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 248-261.
    12. Mariusz Wądrzyk & Marek Plata & Kamila Zaborowska & Rafał Janus & Marek Lewandowski, 2021. "Py-GC-MS Study on Catalytic Pyrolysis of Biocrude Obtained via HTL of Fruit Pomace," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-16, November.
    13. Zhang, Xin & Deng, Honghu & Hou, Xueyi & Qiu, Rongliang & Chen, Zhihua, 2019. "Pyrolytic behavior and kinetic of wood sawdust at isothermal and non-isothermal conditions," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 284-294.
    14. Hongbo Du, & Deng, Fang & Kommalapati, Raghava R. & Amarasekara, Ananda S., 2020. "Iron based catalysts in biomass processing," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    15. Mika Pahnila & Aki Koskela & Petri Sulasalmi & Timo Fabritius, 2023. "A Review of Pyrolysis Technologies and the Effect of Process Parameters on Biocarbon Properties," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(19), pages 1-27, October.
    16. Ana Gonçalves & Jaime Filipe Puna & Luís Guerra & José Campos Rodrigues & João Fernando Gomes & Maria Teresa Santos & Diogo Alves, 2019. "Towards the Development of Syngas/Biomethane Electrolytic Production, Using Liquefied Biomass and Heterogeneous Catalyst," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-21, October.
    17. Torres, Erick & Rodriguez-Ortiz, Leandro A. & Zalazar, Daniela & Echegaray, Marcelo & Rodriguez, Rosa & Zhang, Huili & Mazza, Germán, 2020. "4-E (environmental, economic, energetic and exergetic) analysis of slow pyrolysis of lignocellulosic waste," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 296-307.
    18. Li, Qingyin & Zhang, Shu & Wang, Yi & Xiang, Jun & Hu, Song & Yuan, Xiangzhou & Gholizadeh, Mortaza & Hu, Xun, 2021. "Ionic liquid coupled with nickel salt for enhancing the hydro-liquefaction efficiency of the major biomass components," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 296-306.
    19. Seljak, T. & Buffi, M. & Valera-Medina, A. & Chong, C.T. & Chiaramonti, D. & Katrašnik, T., 2020. "Bioliquids and their use in power generation – A technology review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    20. Mitchell Ubene & Mohammad Heidari & Animesh Dutta, 2022. "Computational Modeling Approaches of Hydrothermal Carbonization: A Critical Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-28, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:14:p:3530-:d:1437876. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.