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Widespread Use of Hydrogen May Hurt Ozone Layer

Posted by michael on from the six-of-one-half-dozen-of-the-other dept.

Saeger writes "The AP has a story about a CalTech study which has found that the Hydrogen Economy may deplete the ozone layer by 'as much as 8 percent' on the assumption that '10 percent to 20 percent of the hydrogen would leak from pipelines, storage facilities, processing plants and fuel cells in cars and at power plants.'" CalTech's press release has more information.

12 of 481 comments (clear)

  1. not as bad by jr87 · · Score: 3, Funny

    at least most major cities will be intact and not underwater.

  2. FUD me please? by jmays · · Score: 5, Funny

    This hydrogen pollution especially occurs when the hydrogen is mixed in a 2:1 ratio with oxygen.

    Right.

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    KARMA TAG! You're it.
    1. Re:FUD me please? by Tyrdium · · Score: 3, Funny

      Of course!

    2. Re:FUD me please? by aoteoroa · · Score: 5, Funny
      That was the funniest thing I've seen in a while.

      For anybody too busy to follow the link here is an excerpt from an information rich web site that outlines the dangers of Dihydrogen Monoxide.

      What are some of the dangers of Dihydrogen Monoxide?

      • Death due to accidental inhalation of DHMO, even in small quantities.
      • Prolonged exposure to solid DHMO causes severe tissue damage.
      • Excessive ingestion produces a number of unpleasant though not typically life-threatening side-effects.
      • DHMO is a major component of acid rain.
      • Gaseous DHMO can cause severe burns.
      • Contributes to soil erosion.
      • Leads to corrosion and oxidation of many metals.
      • Contamination of electrical systems often causes short-circuits.
      • Exposure decreases effectiveness of automobile brakes.
      • Found in biopsies of pre-cancerous tumors and lesions.
      • Often associated with killer cyclones in the U.S. Midwest and elsewhere.
      • Thermal variations in DHMO are a suspected contributor to the El Nino weather effect.
      What are some uses of Dihydrogen Monoxide?

      Despite the known dangers of DHMO, it continues to be used daily by industry, government, and even in private homes across the U.S. and worldwide. Some of the well-known uses of Dihydrogen Monoxide are:

      • as an industrial solvent and coolant, in nuclear power plants,
      • by the U.S. Navy in the propulsion systems of some older vessels,
      • by elite athletes to improve performance,
      • in the production of Styrofoam,
      • in biological and chemical weapons manufacture,
      • as a spray-on fire suppressant and retardant,
      • in abortion clinics,
      • as a major ingredient in many home-brewed bombs,
      • as a byproduct of hydrocarbon combustion in furnaces and air conditioning compressor operation,
      • in cult rituals,
      • by the Church of Scientology on their members and their members' families,
      • by both the KKK and the NAACP during rallies and marches,
      • by pedophiles and pornographers (for uses we'd rather not say here),
      • by the clientele at a number of homosexual bath houses in New York City and San Francisco,
      • historically, in Hitler's death camps in Nazi Germany, and in prisons in Turkey, Serbia, Croatia, Libya, Iraq and Iran,
      • in World War II prison camps in Japan, and in prisons in China, for various forms of torture,
      • by the Serbian military as authorized by Slobodan Milosevic in their recent ethnic cleansing campaign,
      • in animal research laboratories, and
      • in pesticide production and distribution.

      (Hopefully you realize that Dihydrogen Monoxide is water)

  3. No big deal. by American+AC+in+Paris · · Score: 4, Funny
    Researchers said in a report Thursday saying that if hydrogen replaced fossil fuels to run everything from cars to power plants, large amounts of hydrogen would drift into the stratosphere as a result of leakage and indirectly cause increased depletion of the ozone.

    This shouldn't be too hard to deal with.

    All we need to keep this problem in check is an oversized Zippo in orbit right near the ozone layer.

    Activate it every Fourth of July for one helluva fireworks show.

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    Obliteracy: Words with explosions

    1. Re:No big deal. by SanLouBlues · · Score: 3, Funny

      On my own hydrogen prototype, I already implemented something like this. I've got a flamethrower pointed at the pipes, and I run it while I'm driving in order to turn the leakage into water. Unfortunately, the napalm in my flamethrower has increased my emissions way beyond any savings I get from hydrogen, but the heating system has become very efficient.

      Also, might'nt a giant explosion in the atmosphere cause us to lose a sizeable chunk of our air to space? It reminds me of when they freed Taft from a bathtub with a quarter stick of dynamite. He was saved, but had a really nasty bruise which the gov't tried to cover up.

  4. Alt-what? by $alex_n42 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Does this mean we need an alternative fuel for an alternative fuel?

  5. damn ozone layer... by ceswiedler · · Score: 5, Funny

    Can't we have a radiation shield for the Earth which is a little more reliable? A few CFCs, a little hydrogen, and it's disappearing all over the place. Bad design. Someone should have considered these possibilities before installing it. If I installed a firewall which was this delicate, I'd be canned.

    Of course, IPv6 will probably fix all this.

  6. Key outstanding questions by Phronesis · · Score: 3, Funny
    The paper in Science emphasizes that the uptake of tropospheric H2 by soil is unknown and could possibly completely compensate for an increased anthropogenic hydrogen burden.

    Another key question is how the residence time of H2 in the stratosphere compares to the residence time of CO2 in the troposphere. If H2 has a significantly shorter residence time than the 120 year residence time of anthropogenic CO2, then it would be a good choice to switch to H2 today and then replace H2 with another alternative at a future date, since the H2 would drop back to its natural level faster than CO2 would. If H2 has a longer residence time in the stratosphere, then the best choice might be to stick with CO2 emissions.

  7. Re:FACE IT by AvantLegion · · Score: 5, Funny
    Its our numbers, not the action that destroys our environment.

    You're right. And so we here at Slashdot have elected you as our first "number-thinning" sacrifice.

  8. We can't win by Tablizer · · Score: 4, Funny

    No matter what, it has side-effects.

    Nuclear: radiation poisening risk

    Coal: dust causes cancer

    Gas: Kills ozone layer

    Hydrogen: Kills ozone layer

    Windmills: Throw off earth's equitorial tilt and ice tossed from blades stabs children playing in thier backyards and the humming sounds keep people awake at night, turning them into postal killers.

    Oxen (pulling carts): Poop causes mathane, which pollutes and spreads fly-borne desease.

    Staying home and jacking off: Blindness

    There's no way out. Lets just pollute the fscking planet and be done with it.

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    Table-ized A.I.
  9. Re:MOD PARENT UP!!! MORE!! 6+ This is the TRUTH! by anotherone · · Score: 3, Funny
    Biomass (including the waste from other lines of industry) can be used to create fuel grade ethanol. Not just corn, people.

    ...

    ETHANOL IS PEOPLE! PEEEEEE-PULLLLL!

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