Hydrogen is the fuel of the future mainly due to its high conversion efficiency, recyclability and nonpolluting nature. Biological hydrogen production processes are found to be more environment friendly and less energy intensive as compared to thermochemical and electrochemical processes. They are mostly controlled by either photosynthetic or fermentative organisms. Till today, more emphasis has been given on the former processes. Nitrogenase and hydrogenase play very important role. Genetic manipulation of cyanobacteria (hydrogenase negative gene) improves the hydrogen generation. The paper presents a survey of biological hydrogen production processes. The microorganisms and biochemical pathways involved in hydrogen generation processes are presented in some detail. Several developmental works are discussed. Immobilized system is found suitable for the continuous hydrogen production. About 28% of energy can be recovered in the form of hydrogen using sucrose as substrate. Fermentative hydrogen production processes have some edge over the other biological processes. (C) 2000 International Association for Hydrogen Energy. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.