Hydrogen production via thermal gasification of biomass in near-to-medium term

New and revolutionary production methods, capable of replacing the classical process routes, can not however be foreseen to emerge in the medium-term. Also the new hydrogen separation technologies, presently under development, seem to have only limited potential to reduce the production cost of hydrogen compared to commercially available technology.

However, with rising prices of fossil fuels and locally depleting natural gas reserves, gasification route is likely to gain more ground as a credible production technology for hydrogen. The global needs to cut down the CO2 emissions can also make gasification of biomass an interesting possibility. Several biomass gasification processes are presently at demonstration phase, mostly aimed for the production of liquid transportation fuels. If and when this technology will be commercialized, it could easily be adopted to the production of hydrogen.