An evaluative report and challenges for fermentative biohydrogen production

Hydrogen, the most abundant and lightest element in the universe, has enormous potential as a future energy. High conversion efficiency, recyclability and nonpolluting nature of hydrogen make it the fuel of future. Various microorganisms are explored for producing hydrogen by exploiting variety of biological organic substrates. The target is the genetic improvement of the organism or the biochemical pathway required for biohydrogen production and devising path even better in comparison to the other production methods. The present review discusses different methods of biohydrogen production specifically by the fermentative route, physical factors affecting its production and other aspects for enhancement in the yield of hydrogen production. Metabolic engineering strategies for enhancement in hydrogen production to overcome different limitation have been also summarized. Copyright (C) 2011, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.