Experiences of Biohydrogen Production from Various Feedstocks by Dark Fermentation at Laboratory Scale

Over the past two decades, the advantages of biohydrogen as a clean fuel have been increasingly reported. From the various biological methods for producing hydrogen, dark fermentation has consistently delivered the highest hydrogen yields in laboratory-scale experiments. In addition, dark fermentation can be integrated into biorefinery and waste-to- energy systems, boosting the potential of biohydrogen for the development of the circular economy. However, many challenges must be overcome to achieve competitive dark fermentation performance with other technologies, such as metabolites production and substrate utilization efficiency. This chapter presents an overview of biohydrogen production efficiency obtained from various feedstocks and reactor configurations. In addition to reviewing the role of microbial communities in dark fermentation processes. Overall, this chapter underscores the importance of developing and implementing methods and practices to enhance biohydrogen production at the laboratory scale that allows the scale-up of this technology.