Hydrogen (H-2) production from biomass has attracted the research attention as it is renewable and clean. This work investigates the alkaline pyrolysis (AP) of corn stover digestate (CSD) with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) to promote the production of H-2 and suppress carbon dioxide (CO2) at moderate conditions. It is observed that the H-2 production is affected by the mass ratio of CSD to NaOH and reaction temperature. The H-2 yield is enhanced from 1:1 to 1:2 ratio of CSD to NaOH (10.9-25.9 mmol g(-1) with the purity of 81.21-84.98% at 500 degrees C, whereas a slight increase in H-2 production at 1:3 ratio of CSD to NaOH is observed which may attribute to the mass transfer matter. The possible mechanism of AP is identified. Through the thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), distributed activation energy model (DAEM) was applied which evidences the catalytic ability of NaOH via the reduced activation energies. (C) 2020 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.