A status report on biohydrogen production from algae

Algal biomass has been considered as a source of various commercial products. However, in recent years, there has been a considerable research to utilise algal biomass for the biofuel production. Hydrogen being the clean fuel has attracted many research groups across the world to explore cost-effective methods for its production. In biohydrogen production process, the cost of substrate or cultivation of the producer organism is of prime concern due to involvement of high cost. Algal biomass cultivation at large scale for biofuel production is gaining importance because of the ability of algae to capture CO₂ from the atmosphere, produce carbohydrate and oil-rich biomass for biofuel production and can be grown in various wastewaters using light. To produce algae in a cost-effective way is to utilise wastewater rich in nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) as the cultivation medium. Cultivating algae in wastewater results in the reduction of inorganic and organic load of these wastewaters thereby treating wastewater in a cost-effective way. This review briefly describes the status of biohydrogen production from algae.