Gulf coast oil spill

[ZenGum]

That is so horrible. Worse is knowing that it is going on thousands and thousands of times all along the gulf coast. These areas are ecologically very important and are in the process of being repeatedly kicked in the nuts.

Although it is not so dramatic, what is going on under the water is probably more important. Bacteria are feasting on all that oil, using up oxygen as they do. There have been transient anaerobic dead spots in the gulf for years - largely due to run-off coming down the river - but this is going to be the big daddy of dead spots. Even after the leak has been plugged, and the oil scooped up, broken down or dispersed, it is going to take years - decades - to fully recover from this.

Roll on hydrogen cars.

Newsflash: a clean-up crew with mops was dispatched to central Chicago after over 6 liters of H2O leaked from processing facility...

[jinx]

Originally Posted by ZenGum

Roll on hydrogen cars.

Newsflash: a clean-up crew with mops was dispatched to central Chicago after over 6 liters of H2O leaked from processing facility...

Are you serious?

Hydrogen safety

• "Hydrogen-air mixtures can ignite with very low energy input, 1/10th that required igniting a gasoline-air mixture. For reference, an invisible spark or a static spark from a person can cause ignition."
• "Although the autoignition temperature of hydrogen is higher than those for most hydrocarbons, hydrogen's lower ignition energy makes the ignition of hydrogen–air mixtures more likely. The minimum energy for spark ignition at atmospheric pressure is about 0.02 millijoules."

• Leakage, diffusion, and buoyancy: These hazards result from the difficulty in containing hydrogen. Hydrogen diffuses extensively, and when a liquid spill or large gas release occurs, a combustible mixture can form over a considerable distance from the spill location.
• Hydrogen, in both the liquid and gaseous states, is particularly subject to leakage because of its low viscosity and low molecular weight (leakage is inversely proportional to viscosity). Because of its low viscosity alone, the leakage rate of liquid hydrogen is roughly 100 times that of JP-4 fuel, 50 times that of water, and 10 times that of liquid nitrogen.
• Hydrogen leaks can support combustion at very low flow rates, as low as 4 micrograms/s.[5]

I think the explosions will make the news first.

I watched a hydrogen powered car race at Bonneville (on tv), it needed an escort everywhere it went to make sure it kept a safe distance from everything else - as it was considered an explosion risk.