Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: With the world facing the twin pressures of a warming climate and an ever-increasing amount of waste, it is becoming increasingly clear that we need to rethink the way we generate energy and use materials. Despite growing awareness, our energy systems are still largely dependent on fossil fuels and characterized by a linear ‘take-make-dispose’ model. This leaves us vulnerable to supply disruptions, rising greenhouse gas emissions, and the depletion of critical raw materials. Hydrogen is emerging as a potential carbon-free energy vector that can overcome both challenges if it is produced sustainably from renewable sources. This study reviews hydrogen production from a circular economy perspective, considering industrial, agricultural, and municipal solid waste as a resource rather than a burden. The focus is on the reuse of waste as a catalyst or catalyst support for hydrogen production. Firstly, the role of hydrogen as a new energy carrier is explored along with possible routes of waste valorization in the process of hydrogen production. This is followed by an analysis of where and how catalysts from waste can be utilized within various hydrogen production processes, namely those based on using fossil fuels as a source, biomass as a source, and electrocatalytic applications.
Source: Clean Technologies
Institution: University of Maribor
Language: English
Subfield: Catalysis
Field: Chemical Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,930
OpenAlex ID: W4413927459