Advancements in Hydrogen Production Technologies from Agricultural Waste

Renewable energy sources are expected to become more prevalent, with an average annual consumption rise of 2.3% from 2015 to 2040. Hydrogen (H2) is one such renewable energy source, which has become a significant contributor in the battle against global warming and is anticipated to protect our planet in the future due to its substantial energy capacity and absence of emissions. Diverse forms of biomass can be harnessed to generate such energy and fuel, with the objective of promoting sustainability. The agricultural waste has a surplus biomass availability of roughly 230 million metric tonnes per year, which indicates an achievable power capacity of around 28 GW. There are different conventional routes available for H2 production which encompasses the utilisation/breakdown of water, chemicals, wastewater, etc. With brief description on the commercially available H2 production technologies, the current chapter emphasises on the applicability of different biomass sources for H2 production and their corresponding characteristics. Different thermochemical techniques like gasification, pyrolysis, alongside their advancements like solar pyrolysis, catalytic pyrolysis, and microwave-assisted pyrolysis (MAP) for biomass conversion into H2 and related value-added products are mentioned. Further, it dwells into the MAP factors affecting H2 production and summarises the pyrolysis mechanism for H2 production. In addition, this chapter offers essential knowledge regarding the economic aspects, challenges, and future perspective of H2 production.