Recent advances in the utilization of hydrogen as an alternative fuel source to conventional fossil fuels have led to a search for a renewable process of producing hydrogen. Most hydrogen today is produced from hydrocarbons in a process that also releases high levels of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide, two established greenhouse gasses; because of this harmful means of production, research has been directed toward using anaerobic digestion to produce useful levels of hydrogen gas. Anaerobic systems have been shown to produce a biogas that is easily used in producing energy, but certain processes can be performed to further enhance the concentrations of hydrogen. These processes include the inhibition of microorganisms that lower hydrogen concentrations and the constant removal of hydrogen to promote hydrogen-producing bacteria. Experimental designs and large-scale applications have shown this process to be environmentally viable with limited, but promising, economic potential. With a constant increase for the need of hydrogen gas, the sustainable production of hydrogen is becoming more important. This review explores some of the recent research on this topic and explores the processes behind using anaerobic digestion for hydrogen production.

利用氢作为常规化石燃料的替代燃料源的最新进展已导致寻找生产氢的可再生方法。如今，大多数氢气是由碳氢化合物产生的，该过程还会释放出高水平的二氧化碳和一氧化碳，这是两种已建立的温室气体。由于这种有害的生产方式，研究已针对使用厌氧消化来产生有用水平的氢气。已经显示出厌氧系统产生易于用于产生能量的沼气，但是可以执行某些过程以进一步提高氢的浓度。这些过程包括抑制降低氢浓度的微生物和不断去除氢以促进产氢细菌。实验设计和大规模应用表明，该方法在环境上可行，具有有限但有希望的经济潜力。随着对氢气的需求不断增加，可持续生产氢气变得越来越重要。这篇综述探索了有关该主题的一些最新研究，并探索了使用厌氧消化制氢的过程。