US government scientists have recently voiced their concern over signals that marine life is under pressure as a result of climate change. An enormous toxic algal bloom nicknamed the "blob" stretches from the Gulf of Alaska to the coast of Mexico. The heat that was trapped in the western Pacific by the trade winds has now sloshed back to the east and up the coast of North America with the onset of El Nino conditions and it is that heat that has created the bloom that is believed to be linked to the death of at least 30 large whale off the Alaskan coast.
Anti-whaling efforts were the foundation of the modern environmental movement but to date there has been no similar hue and cry over the death of these whales.More than 250,000 Pacific salmon have also died or are dying, due to warm temperatures in the Columbia river. Scientists predict that up to 80% of the sockeye salmon population, which swim up the river from the ocean to spawn, could ultimately be wiped out.
A study by researchers from the University of British Columbia recently found that global fisheries catches are increasingly dominated by warm-water species as a result of fish migrating towards the poles in response to rising ocean temperatures. And another UBC study suggests fish are getting smaller as the oceans warm because of the reduced capacity of the water to hold oxygen.
An even greater warming threat to fisheries was outlined by the British Royal Society which notes that marine phytoplankton biomass and productivity have been shown to decrease in response to temperature-driven stratification that isolates the plants, which require sunlight, from cool, nutrient-rich, deeper, water.
It is this thermal stratification however that arises as a consequence of the concentration of 93 percent of the heat of global warming in the ocean that presents the opportunity to convert global warming to productive use.
It would be far better if the heat that has produced the blob was instead passed through heat engines to produce power on its way to an ocean depth of 1000 meters where it would have exponentially less of an environmental impact.
It probably would also be better if every home,
office and industrial building was serviced by a single hydrogen grid rather
than the electric, water and, in most cases, natural gas lines that currently suffice.
A single hydrogen line to the home or office can also power the associated vehicles.
In a recent survey 64 percent of Canadian buyers support hydrogen power for zero-emission transportation.
Often existing infrastructure can be used to convey hydrogen and and existing power generating stations can also be converted to producing hydrogen.
The best rationale for converting to a hydrogen economy however, is to use the gas as an energy/water carrier in a process that keeps global warming below the 2oC UN limit.
Compressed hydrogen has the highest energy potential by weight of non-nuclear materials. The most efficient way to produce compressed hydrogen is to perform electrolysis in deep water. When performed at a depth of 1000 meters the gas arrives at the surface pressurized to 100 bar.
The average land height is 840 meters. Raising desalinated ocean water consumes considerable energy. Hydrogen on the other hand is lighter than air and would rise from a depth of 1000 meters to any place on land of its own volition. It is a lifting gas because it is 14 times less dense than air. Above the surface compressed gas has the same energy potential as compressed air energy storage systems.
James Lovelock suggests we should embrace the ongoing global shift towards urban living. It would, he insists, be far easier and more economic to regulate the climate of cities than our current strategy of attempting to control the temperature of an entire planet. To be effective these cities would require as small a footprint as possible, which would mean building upward.
Hydrogen is the best way to provide water, heat and power to the upper levels.
Hydrogen is most frequently associated with stationary or transportation fuel cells. In the latter case the gas is compressed to between 350 and 700 bar for spatial and range considerations but the optimal operating pressure of PEM fuel cell systems in automotive or stationary applications is about 6 bar.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
3
2
2
