Minimizing the Formation of Coke and Methane on Co Nanoparticles in Steam Reforming of Biomass-Derived Oxygenates

Renewable hydrogen for the chemical industry

Hydrogen is often touted as the fuel of the future, but hydrogen is already an important feedstock for the chemical industry. This review highlights current means for hydrogen production and use, and the importance of progressing R&D along key technologies and policies to drive a cost reduction in renewable hydrogen production and enable the transition of chemical manufacturing toward green hydrogen as a feedstock and fuel. The chemical industry is at the core of what is considered a modern economy. It provides commodities and important materials, e.g., fertilizers, synthetic textiles, and drug precursors, supporting economies and more broadly our needs. The chemical sector is to become the major driver for oil production by 2030 as it entirely relies on sufficient oil supply. In this respect, renewable hydrogen has an important role to play beyond its use in the transport sector. Hydrogen not only has three times the energy density of natural gas and using hydrogen as a fuel could help decarbonize the entire chemical manufacturing, but also the use of green hydrogen as an essential reactant at the basis of many chemical products could facilitate the convergence toward virtuous circles. Enabling the production of green hydrogen at cost could not only enable new opportunities but also strengthen economies through a localized production and use of hydrogen. Herein, existing technologies for the production of renewable hydrogen including biomass and water electrolysis, and methods for the effective storage of hydrogen are reviewed with an emphasis on the need for mitigation strategies to enable such a transition.

Biorenewable hydrogen production through biomass gasification: A review and future prospects

Hydrogen is recognized as one of the cleanest energy carriers, which can be produced from renewable biomass as a promising feedstock to achieve sustainable bioeconomy. Thermochemical technologies (e.g., gasification and pyrolysis) are the main routes for hydrogen production from biomass. Although biomass gasification, including steam gasification and supercritical water gasification, shows a high potential in field-scale applications, the selectivity and efficiency of hydrogen production need improvement to secure cost-effective industrial applications with high atom economy. This article reviews the two main-stream biomass-to-hydrogen technologies and discusses the significance of operating conditions and considerations in the catalytic system design. Challenges and prospects of hydrogen production via biomass gasification are explored to advise on the critical information gaps that require future investigations.

Low-temperature aqueous-phase reforming of ethanol on bimetallic PdZn catalysts

Bimetallic PdZn catalysts supported on carbon black (CB) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were found to be selective for CO-free H₂ production from ethanol at low temperature (250 °C).

Catalytic fast pyrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass

We summarize the development of catalysts and provide the current understanding of the chemistry for catalytic fast pyrolysis of lignocelluloses biomass.