THE Hydrogen Thread (merged) Part 2

Heineken · Posted: Sat May 10, 2008 9:12 pm Post subject: Re: solar power to hydrogen

Hydrogen cars are simply not practical, and are out-of-sight expensive.
Most of the fundamental problems haven't been solved.
They are interesting curiosities and will so remain.
_________________
"Actually, humans died out long ago."
---Abused, abandoned hunting dog

"Things have entered a stage where the only change that is possible is for things to get worse."
---Me and my brother

Kylon · Expert Joined: Aug 12, 2005 Posts: 802

Kylon · Expert Joined: Aug 12, 2005 Posts: 802

In my other post, link, I linked two references to articles where they talked about hydrogen sulfide, how it would build up and be released and such due to global warming, and it's ill effects(mass extinction).
Well, there are bacteria that consume hydrogen sulfide: link

"Home on the Bone: Some of Earth’s strangest creatures live around hydrothermal vents--hot springs that bubble from volcanic fissures in the ocean depths. These remarkable animals--tube worms, giant clams, and others--form a food chain that depends ultimately not on photosynthetic plants but on bacteria that live on and inside their bodies. The bacteria break down hydrogen sulfide in the vents, in the process releasing body-building energy for their hosts."

So, possibly, if the atmosphere got filled with hydrogen sulfide, you could have domes where there would be pools of these bacteria, effectively converting hydrogen sulfide in the atmosphere of the dome to energy for themselves.
Furthermore, if hydrogen sulfide began to build up, these organisms in time could populate the rest of the ocean, to clean up the hydrogen sulfide.
It wouldn't be immediate. It would take time. But these organisms could move in to take over the ocean waters. In the mean time, terrestial and sea life would take a hit.

So possibly, if we grew large quantities of this bacteria within domes, or greenhouses, we could survive while the rest of the world died. These bacteria could absorb the hydrogen sulfide from the water, which would absorb it from the air, to produce sulfur and hydrogen, which they'd use for food.
We could use these bacteria as a form of filter, keeping the H2S levels to survivable levels, while the rest of the world was gassed to death.

In a few years, maybe 10 or 15, we could go back outside, as the oceans would act as our filter, absorbing the hydrogen sulfide that it released, and using it as a food source.
The Earth would be a desert(thanks to deforestation, and the removal of most if not all vegetation), but thanks to extensive depopulation we wouldn't have to worry about water shortages, Peak Oil, climate change(we could go where it was still habitable, such as farther north), or global pandemics. Food would still be an issue, as the Earth would be a barren desert possibly.

Fertilizer wouldn't be a problem. All the infrastructure left by the deceased, and all the goods(fertilizer included) would last the small handful of survivors decades, if not hundreds of years.
What do you think? Do you think this idea has any merit?

Slowpoke · Tar Sands Joined: Oct 24, 2005 Posts: 67

From what I read in the Wikipedia entry, it seems to me that the events were in cascade. A massive, continuous eruption in the Siberian Traps shot CO2 in the atmosphere, which made temperatures spike, destabilising the clathrates, that poisoned the oceans and heated up the atmosphere even more, killing plants and animals, and eventually causing a hydrogen sulphide burst (the final strike).
What really scares me is that this could very easily happen again. We may not have continental-scale volcanism, but we have something just as good at spewing forth massive amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (industry). And the clathrates are there, waiting for the heat to go up just enough. <shudder>

rockdoc123 · Light Sweet Crude Joined: May 16, 2005 Posts: 1685

Kylon · Expert Joined: Aug 12, 2005 Posts: 802

In another post I had I have a possible small scale solution: link
I think that the H2S eating bacteria may overtake the ocean again and clear this stuff out once it saturates the atmosphere and the oceans(thus extinguishing a good deal of life before the bacteria that eats H2S takes hold and grows large enough to compensate for the increase in H2S).

So it's a matter of survival. However no amount of gas mask will be able to last you long enough, so I proposed a solution on how you could use pools of bacteria in greenhouses to act as your filter. Then you could just wait it out til nature cleans up the mess we've made.

It may take a few decades, but on the bright side you won't have much competition(that's also a bad thing). Certainly take care of the Peak Oil problem and the overpopulation problem.

Gerben

H2S can be burnt using oxygen. We'll find it and use it. Especially since it is formed under the same conditions as methane is formed.

Kylon · Expert Joined: Aug 12, 2005 Posts: 802

That's true, but if it's in too small a concentration, then you can't ignite it.
You can burn the molecules that come in contact with the flame, but you wouldn't be able to burn all the molecules in the air, because if there aren't enough of them at one spot, then the heat energy produced by the burning of those molecules will be diluted by the other molecules floating around, decreasing the temperature to below the burning point of H2S.
But it would be nice to harvest this gas as a fuel supply. We might be able to do it too!

Cabrone

You ought to read '6 Degrees' by Mark Lynas, he speculates that a +6 deg C scenario may well turn into something like the PT extinction event and then uses a variety of scientific sources to go into detail about what it might have been like at that time.

It's really chilling stuff and if it were ever to play out then I wouldn't want to be around to see it.

Graeme

Thirst for hydrogen, but not a drop to drink

Ivan_M · Heavy Crude Joined: Mar 29, 2008 Posts: 172

living alone amongst the utter silence that we wrought upon the earth. delightful.

Graeme

GM's Perspective on Hydrogen

dohboi · Light Sweet Crude Joined: Dec 05, 2005 Posts: 1271

dohboi · Light Sweet Crude Joined: Dec 05, 2005 Posts: 1271

Didn't some people try to live under a sealed dome? Did that little experiment work out real well?

newbonic · Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 1:47 pm Post subject: Re: solar power to hydrogen