Strategies towards fermentative biohydrogen generation using cellulosic pulp and paper waste: challenges, current progress, and future perspectives

Abstract

In search of cleaner alternatives for fossil fuels, fermentation-based biohydrogen production techniques are being investigated extensively worldwide for manufacturing biohydrogen from various waste sources. Researchers have recently focused a great deal of emphasis on cellulosic paper waste in their hunt for sustainable sources for the generation of biohydrogen. One of the main goals of the research has been to understand how cellulose breaks down into simpler fermentable sugars. To do this, the researchers have used a variety of pre-treatment techniques to extract the sugars from cellulose. Although there is evidence that cellulosic paper waste can produce biohydrogen on its own, a lot of research has also been done on combining paper waste with other waste sources to increase yield of biohydrogen generation. However, in order to make these fermentative techniques feasible, a number of problems associated with dealing with cellulose must be addressed.This paper discusses the different strategies of converting cellulose to simpler sugars, the role of microorganisms in fermentative biohydrogen production, challenges associated with cellulosic wastes, and possible solutions to overcome these problems.