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High-Yield Production of Biohydrogen from Carbohydrates and Water Based on In Vitro Synthetic (Enzymatic) Pathways

  • Chapter
Production of Hydrogen from Renewable Resources

Part of the book series: Biofuels and Biorefineries ((BIOBIO,volume 5))

Abstract

Distributed production of green and low-cost hydrogen from renewable energy sources is necessary to develop the hydrogen economy. Carbohydrates, such as cellulose, hemicellulose, starch, sucrose, glucose, and xylose, are abundant renewable bioresources and can provide the source of hydrogen. In this chapter, in vitro synthetic (enzymatic) pathways that overcome the limiting yields of hydrogen-producing microorganisms are discussed. These in vitro synthetic pathways produce hydrogen with theoretical yields from polymeric and monomeric hexoses or xylose with water of 2 mol of hydrogen per carbon molecule of carbohydrate. In the past years, hydrogen production rate of in vitro synthetic enzymatic pathways has been improved to 150 mmol/L/h by 750-fold through systematic optimization. All of the thermostable enzymes used in the pathways have been recombinantly produced in E. coli, and some of them are immobilized for enhanced stability and simple recycling. Redox enzymes are being engineered to work on low-cost and highly stable biomimetic coenzymes. It is expected that low-cost green hydrogen can be produced at $2.00/kg hydrogen in small-sized atmospheric pressure bioreactors in the future.

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Acknowledgments

YPZ was supported by the Virginia Tech Biological Systems Engineering Department, and subcontracts from NSF STTR I (IIP-1321528) and SBIR II (IIP-1353266) awards and Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. In addition, funding for this work was provided in part by the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station and the Hatch Program of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, US Department of Agriculture.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biological Systems Engineering Department, Virginia Tech, 304 Seitz Hall, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA

    Jae-Eung Kim & Yi-Heng Percival Zhang

  2. Cell Free Bioinnovations Inc., 2200 Kraft Drive, Suite 1200B, Blacksburg, VA, 24060, USA

    Yi-Heng Percival Zhang

  3. Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 32 West 7th Avenue, Tianjin Airport Economic Area, Tianjin, 300308, China

    Yi-Heng Percival Zhang

Authors
  1. Jae-Eung Kim
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  2. Yi-Heng Percival Zhang
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Correspondence to Yi-Heng Percival Zhang .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China

    Zhen Fang

  2. Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

    Richard L. Smith, Jr.

  3. Nankai University, Tianjin, China

    Xinhua Qi

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Kim, JE., Zhang, YH.P. (2015). High-Yield Production of Biohydrogen from Carbohydrates and Water Based on In Vitro Synthetic (Enzymatic) Pathways. In: Fang, Z., Smith, Jr., R., Qi, X. (eds) Production of Hydrogen from Renewable Resources. Biofuels and Biorefineries, vol 5. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-7330-0_3

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