Silver-based heterogeneous catalysts play an important role in the catalytic elimination of environmental pollutants, production of clean energy, fuel distillation and the synthesis of highly value chemical intermediates. Most silver catalysts are mainly applied in the following four domains: chemo-selective oxidation, hydrogenation, photo-catalysis and electro-catalysis. The development of Ag-based heterogeneous catalysts would definitely contribute to the environment improvement and efficient utilization of energy resources. It would also help balance environment concerns with economic development. This mini-review gives an overview of recent progress in silver-based heterogeneous catalysts for four green chemical processes. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.