Food Waste: A Promising Source of Sustainable Biohydrogen Fuel

Mahmoud M Habashy; Ee Shen Ong; Omar M Abdeldayem; Eslam G Al-Sakkari; Eldon R Rene

doi:10.1016/j.tibtech.2021.04.001

Food Waste: A Promising Source of Sustainable Biohydrogen Fuel

Trends Biotechnol. 2021 Dec;39(12):1274-1288. doi: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2021.04.001. Epub 2021 May 12.

Authors

Mahmoud M Habashy¹, Ee Shen Ong², Omar M Abdeldayem², Eslam G Al-Sakkari³, Eldon R Rene²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Water Supply, Sanitation, and Environmental Engineering, IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, Westvest 7, 2611AX Delft, The Netherlands. Electronic address: mab007@un-ihe.org.
² Department of Water Supply, Sanitation, and Environmental Engineering, IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, Westvest 7, 2611AX Delft, The Netherlands.
³ Chemical Engineering Department, Cairo University, Cairo University Road, 12613 Giza, Egypt.

PMID: 33992456
DOI: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2021.04.001

Abstract

Annually, approximately 1.3 billion tons of food is lost worldwide, accounting for one-third of annual food production. Therefore, turning food waste into energy is of enormous environmental significance because of its sustainable nature. Nutrients and organic acids present in food waste can be used to produce (bio)products such as biohydrogen through biological processes. However, our understanding of the production of biohydrogen from food waste through photofermentation and dark fermentation is still restricted. This comprehensive study aims to review the potential of food waste for biohydrogen production using microbial mediators, including a brief overview of process parameters that affect the (bio)hydrogen production pathway.

Keywords: biohydrogen; dark fermentation; food waste; microbial mediators; photofermentation.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Biofuels
Fermentation
Food
Hydrogen* / metabolism
Refuse Disposal*

Substances

Biofuels
Hydrogen