Oxygenic hydrogen photoproduction – current status of the technology

Oxygenic photosynthetic microbes such as green algae and cyanobacteria are capable of simultaneously splitting water and generating O₂ and H₂. This property confers them the ability to directly utilize sunlight to produce a clean fuel, H₂ gas. In this article, we discuss the two major classes of enzymes present in these organisms that are involved in H₂ production, hydrogenases and nitrogenases. We also describe the major barriers that must be overcome to bring the process to commercial deployment, as well as recent technological advances in the area.