Here we report on a novel metal-free alpha-C3N4 nanoporous photocatalyst for promising energy and environmental applications. The nanoporous material was synthesized via a facile solution combustion reaction utilizing urea as both the precursor and fuel for the first time. Characterization results derived from N-2 adsorption, X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscope revealed that the synthesized photocatalyst exhibited a nanoporous structure with a high degree of crystallinity. UV-vis absorption and high resolution valence band X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic analysis showed that the band gap energy of the alpha-C3N4 nanoporous photocatalyst was similar to 2.76 eV with a valence band maxima located at 1.71 eV, which constitutes an ideal position that is suitable for water splitting. Our study demonstrates that the alpha-C3N4 photocatalyst has high stability and exceptional activity for the generation of hydrogen and for the degradation of organic pollutants under visible light irradiation. (c) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.