Biological Production of Hydrogen from Biomasses

Dear Colleagues,

The efficient conversion of different types of lignocellulosic biomass into renewable fuels requires rigorous research and development. This will help to ensure that these renewable fuels are compatible with current infrastructure. The production of advanced biofuels is necessary to develop domestic energy resources and to compete globally in the race for clean energy technology. Developing a feasible process at a commercial scale would promote economic growth, create new employment opportunities, and significantly reduce net greenhouse gas emissions. Currently, research and development efforts are mainly focused on the deconstruction of biomass and its conversion into value-added products through thermochemical and biochemical conversion processes. Producing biofuels using various technology pathways may require the coproduction of other value-added products to generate cost-competitive fuels. Synthetic biology is the most effective approach for developing improved microbial strains that can produce cost-effective renewable chemicals and fuels. Currently, several genetic engineering techniques are being used to enhance microbes, enabling them to efficiently ferment various sugars derived from lignocellulosic biomass. Researchers are dedicating their efforts in research institutes and industries to developing metabolically engineered strains with the ability to utilize specific substrates. They are also verifying the performance of these improved strains, which will ultimately lead to the development of production processes and contribute to their economic feasibility. Improving strains through metabolic engineering can accelerate the production rate and yield of desired metabolic end products. Further research and development studies that include advanced computational tools, the high-throughput screening of catalysts, and characterization studies will help bring cost-competitive biofuels to the market.

This Special Issue on “Biological production of Hydrogen from Biomasses” seeks high-quality research that focuses on the recent advances in hydrogen production using biomass waste. Topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Microbial hydrogen production using dark or photo-fermentation;
• Biomass pretreatment processes to make it available for hydrogen fermentation;
• Larger-scale optimization for hydrogen generation and its storage solutions.

Dr. Mamata Singhvi
Dr. Rajiv Rajak
Dr. Pritam Kumar Dikshit
Prof. Dr. Beom Soo Kim
Guest Editors

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• lignocellulosic biomass
• biohydrogen
• synthetic biology
• microbial fermentation
• chemical conversion
• zero carbon emissions
• nanobiotechnology
• metabolic engineering