A plant and a method for the production of hydrogen and bicarbonate. The plant includes a gasifier, a reformer, a direct contact exchanger and an apparatus for the production of bicarbonate. The plant is suitable for receiving fuel, oxygen, water, carbonate, brine at the inlet and for producing hydrogen, bicarbonate and calcium chloride at the outlet. The plant uses a self-cleaning direct contact heat exchanger to cool the syngas downstream of the reformer and to produce the superheated steam that feeds the gasifier: this heat exchanger allows the production of hydrogen at low costs and in modular plants.