Methods and systems for generating sulfuric acid (102) are disclosed. In some embodiments, the method includes combusting a sulfur-containing material (114) with a gas including oxygen (116) to produce a first stream of sulfur dioxide (118), mixing water with the first stream of sulfur dioxide to produce a mixed stream, using an energy, electrolytically converting (108) the mixed stream of sulfur dioxide and water into sulfuric acid (102) and hydrogen (122), generating a source of energy (126) from the hydrogen, and providing the source of energy as at least a portion of the energy for electrolytically converting the first stream of sulfur dioxide and water into sulfuric acid and hydrogen. In some embodiments, the system includes a first chamber for combusting a sulfur-containing material to produce a first stream of sulfur dioxide, an electrolytic cell (108) for converting the first stream into sulfuric acid and hydrogen, and a fuel cell (112) for generating an energy source from the hydrogen.