Myth # 19 FROM “THE PHILOSOPHER MECHANIC” by Roy McAlister
This myth claims that: THE COMING HYDROGEN ECONOMY POSES A GREAT THREAT TO PROTECTIVE OZONE IN THE STRATOSPHERE
Actually, the solar hydrogen economy can greatly reduce destruction of protective ozone in the stratosphere. It will do so by prioritizing conversion of fugitive methane into sequestered carbon for producing durable goods and hydrogen for energy conversion purposes. Halogens that are the primary cause of ozone destruction in the stratosphere will be safely removed from the stratosphere and precipitated as salts into the oceans following reactions with atomized sodium and/or sodium hydroxide.
High-energy ultraviolet radiation is harmful to all living organisms. Stratospheric ozone (O3) is essential to life on Earth because it absorbs most of the harmful ultraviolet radiation in the solar spectrum. Stratospheric ozone is continually generated by ionizing events that produce ozone from diatomic oxygen (O2). Ozone is continually eliminated by various reactions with other chemical species.
In addition to being an essential absorber of harmful radiation, ozone is an extremely powerful oxidizing chemical reactant. Ozone reacts much more vigorously than ordinary atmospheric oxygen (O2) to destroy organic materials such as rubber, bacteria, viruses, phytoplankton, and many other microorganisms.
As a result of the benefits offered by vigorous oxidation of organic substances ozone is called upon to eliminate health hazards. Ozone treatment of pathogenically contaminated air or water provides an excellent way to quickly eliminate harmful germs and microorganisms.
Human activities of the Industrial Revolution have caused considerably greater destruction of stratospheric ozone than natural processes. Particularly harmful agents of ozone destruction are manmade compounds known as halocarbons that are sufficiently inert to avoid entry into chemical reactions in the lower atmosphere. Such halogenated molecules can reach the stratosphere in Earth’s constantly moving and mixing atmosphere. Once delivered they readily enter into reactions with ozone and/or become dissociated by ultraviolet radiation to release halogens such as chlorine and bromine and cause virtually endless destruction of ozone.
Chlorine and bromine continue to cause ozone destruction without end. Each atom of chlorine (or bromine) that reaches the stratosphere is estimated to cause destruction of 100,000 ozone molecules before this serial killer is somehow randomly removed to the lower atmosphere.
Another cause of stratospheric ozone destruction is atmospheric methane. As evidenced by analysis of polar snow cores, atmospheric concentrations of methane are now more than 100% greater than at any time in the 160,000 years that preceded the Industrial Revolution. Human activities that produce or cause methane to enter the atmosphere include:
1) Venting of fossil methane from oil and gas resources;
2) Soil erosion and anaerobic decay from farming and water management practices;
3) Anaerobic decay of biomass such as garbage, sewage, crop and forest wastes; and
4) Activities that interfere with the containment of methane within vast methane hydrate deposits that are produced in the ooze at the bottom of deep lakes and on many areas of the continental shelf slopes that surround the continents.
Methane hydrates formed in the anaerobic ooze of the ocean floors represents more than two-times as much carbon as all coal, oil, and natural gas reserves on the contintents.1 Methane (CH4) is composed of one carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms. Reactions that destroy ozone by oxidation of the carbon and hydrogen delivered by methane to the stratosphere are summarized as follows.
CH4 + 4/3O3 à CO2 + 2H2O Equation 13.19.1
CH4 + 4O3 à CO2 + 2H2O + 4O2 Equation 13.19.2
In comparison with chlorine and bromine, each molecule of methane that reaches the stratosphere is much less harmful. One molecule of methane destroys 4/3 or 1.33 molecules of ozone in the best case and 4 molecules in the instance that is summarized in Equation 13.19.2. However, there are many more molecules of methane than the number of atoms of chlorine and bromine that reach the stratosphere.
In addition, each molecule of methane that enters Earth’s atmosphere is about 27-times more harmful as a greenhouse gas than each molecule of carbon dioxide. Methane hydrates in the continental shelf areas of the oceans become unstable and release methane if greenhouse gas processes increase the temperature of the oceans. The following tables compare the heat trapping characteristics of various greenhouse gases and their concentrations in Earth’s atmosphere.
Table13.19.1: Heat Trapping Capacity of Greenhouse Gases2,3
|
Atmospheric Species
CO2
CH4
N2O
CFC-12
|
Relative Heat Trapping Effect 1
27
200
10,000 |
Decay Time (Years) 120
10
150
120 |
Table13.19.2: Comparisons of Greenhouse Gas Impact2,3
Species Concentration Rate of Increase Contribution
|
(PPBV)*
CO2 = 353x103
CH4 = 1.7 x103
N2O = 310
CFC -12 = 0.48
|
(% Per Year)
0.5
1.0
0.2
4.0
|
(Relative % of TOTAL)
60
15
5
8 |
In addition to CFC-12 (CCl2F2) which represents about 32% of the halocarbon molecules that reach the stratosphere, CFC-11 (CCl3F) represents 23%, methyl chloride (CH3Cl) represents 16%, carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) comprises 12% and CFC-113 (CCl2FCClF2) adds about 7%.
About 3,000 times greater methane concentration than halogenated molecules exists in the global atmosphere. However each chlorine or bromine atom derived from a halogenated molecule that reaches the stratosphere will probably destroy 100,000 times more ozone than each molecule of methane.
Chlorine is about 170 times more prevalent in the stratosphere than bromine.4 The general reactions by which halogens such as chlorine and/or bromine destroy ozone are summarized below.
Cl + O3 à + ClO + O2 Equation 13.19.3
ClO + O à Cl + O2 Equation 13.19.4
Thus once chlorine or bromine enters the stratosphere these atoms enter into an endless chain of ozone destroying reactions. This process is often said to be “catalytic” because the culprit chlorine and/or bromine atoms are not consumed by the reactions that destroy ozone. The net result of the catalytic destruction of stratospheric ozone by halogens is:
O + O3 à 2O2 Equation 13.19.5
In comparison, as shown in Equation 13.19.6, regarding the worst case, only one molecule of ozone is consumed by a molecule of hydrogen that reaches the stratosphere.
H2 + O3 à + H2O + O2 Equation 13.19.6
In the best case as shown in Equation 13.19.7, three molecules of hydrogen are oxidized by one molecule of ozone to produce three molecules of water or 0.33 molecules of ozone are eliminated per molecule of hydrogen that reaches the stratosphere. Hydrogen is a much better choice for energy storage and conversion purposes than hydrocarbons in comparisons of greenhouse gas and ozone destruction hazards.
3H2 + O3 à + 3H2O Equation 13.19.7
USING H2 TO REMOVE HALOGENS THAT REACH THE STRATOSPHERE:
Halogens are the primary cause of ozone destruction in the stratosphere. Chlorine, bromine and other halogens can be safely removed from the stratosphere and precipitated into the oceans following reactions with atomized sodium and/or sodium hydroxide. Hydrogen and oxygen derived from seawater will facilitate this remedial removal of halogens from the stratosphere.
Mixtures of hydrogen and oxygen can provide the non-polluting propellant for naval guns that are converted into sodium launchers. Large bore naval guns can be converted from their previous use for delivering explosive shells to defense of the environment by utilizing mixtures of hydrogen and oxygen to launch rounds of sodium into the upper atmosphere for purposes of reacting with halogens to form salts that precipitate into the oceans.5
In other instances, hydrogen filled balloons will lift sodium payloads to the stratosphere and support solar concentrators that atomize sodium for the precipitation reactions.5 In both approaches for utilizing hydrogen to deliver sodium to the stratosphere, the remedial reactions are summarized in Equation 13.19.8 and 13.19.9.
Na + Cl à NaCl Equation 13.19.8
Na + Br à NaBr Equation 13.19.9
Therefore, the solar hydrogen economy offers practical ways to create a wealth-expansion economy while virtually eliminating destruction of protective ozone in the stratosphere due to reactions with manmade chemicals. The solar hydrogen economy will greatly depress emissions of greenhouse gases to reduce weather-related extremes including increased incidence and severity of hurricanes, tornados, lighting strikes, floods and mudslides. This can be accomplished by prioritizing conversion of biomass, gas hydrates and fossil sourced methane into valuable carbon durable goods and hydrogen for energy conversion purposes.5
References:
1. William P. Dillon, USGS Report and “Gas Hydrates in the Ocean Environment” Encyclopedia of Physical Science and Technology, Third Edition, Volume 6.
2. Rodhe Henning; “A Comparison of the Contribution of Various Gases in the Greenhouse Effect” Science Vol. 24-8, June 1990.
3. Ontario Energy Educators (1993).
4. U.S. EPA web references regarding ozone depletion: www.epa.gov/ozone/science/process
Roy McAlister, “The Solar Hydrogen Civilization” ISBN 0-9728375-0-7