Current Trends and Future Developments on (Bio-) Membranes

Book excerpt: In the last decade, the attention paid to the environmental protection has generated a considerable interest towards the development of new energy carriers and green energy production methods. Hydrogen as an energy carrier becomes a potential important source of energy due to its neutral environmental impact. However, its production, transformation and purification, presents a challenge in the so called hydrogen economy. Current Trends and Future Developments on (Bio-) Membranes gives a comprehensive review on the present state of the art of the hydrogen production and purification using new and alternative technologies stressing green processes and environment protection. The book covers green processes, renewable feedstocks utilization and membrane reactor technology for hydrogen production in line with new process intensification strategy. The book is divided in four sections, ie fundamentals of hydrogen generation, its impact on environmental issue, new applications involving hydrogen and its storage and distribution. The main scope of this book is to offer a new horizon on hydrogen generation and utilization. It stresses the role of new technologies for hydrogen generation, including the "micro-reactors technology for portable applications”, their combination with high temperature fuel cells, the role of gas-separation for both hydrogen purification and CO2 sequestration, the exploitation of renewable sources (biogas, bioethanol and other renewables feedstocks) in reforming processes useful to generate hydrogen, membrane and membrane reactor technology as well as membrane bio-reactors etc.