Review of Renewable Energy-based Hydrogen Production Processes for Sustainable Energy Innovation

In this review, we primarily analyze the hydrogen production technologies based on water and biomass, including the economic, technological, and environmental impacts of different types of hydrogen production technologies based on these materials, and comprehensively compare them. Our analyses indicate that all renewable energy-based approaches for hydrogen production are more environmentally friendly than fossil-based hydrogen generation approaches. However, the technical ease and economic efficiency of hydrogen production from renewable sources of energy needs to be further improved in order to be applied on a large scale. Compared with other renewable energy-based methods, hydrogen production via biomass electrolysis has several advantages, including the ease of directly using raw biomass. Furthermore, its environmental impact is smaller than other approaches. Moreover, using a noble metal, catalyst-free anode for this approach can ensure a considerably low power consumption, which makes it a promising candidate for clean and efficient hydrogen production in the future.