Could too much hydrogen released to the atmosphere be a danger?

Question

Hydrogen has been touted as a great way to store energy for use in portable applications like cars and generators for example. When it burns it just turns to water. Inevitably when we start converting water to hydrogen in large amounts some will be leaked into the atmosphere. What happens to that? Will it combine with oxygen molecules any way? Will it combine with sulphur molecules. I do not know, but I have seen green ideas turn to a fiasco.

Answer 1

Hydrogen gas is so light that it goes very high to where the intense sun will cause it to oxidize.

Answer 2

I have made hydrogen through the electrolysis of water.   I didn't have it set up right, so both electrodes were in the same container of water.   The hydrogen and oxygen rose to the surface, combined and became water droplets on the side of the container.   If any escapes in a hydrogen society, it will just combine with the released oxygen and rain down, or make it muggy.

Answer 3

Hydrogen is the lightest of gases and as such has the lowest ability to be retained by Earth's gravity.

Hydrogen released in to the atmosphere largely escapes into space.  Only large planets like Uranus, Neptune, Saturn and Jupiter have the gravitational power to retain hydrogen.

Answer 4

If hydrogen make it to the ozone layer ---

H2 + O3 = H2O + O2

--- each hydrogen will remove 1 ozone molecule.

Need a quantitative analysis to determine the effect on the ecology.

Answer 5

Yes, but think about it:

Carbon dioxide has been considered both a threat to breathing, and temprature.

But, if you look at the chart of carbon dioxide going up over the years. There is no scale.

We are talking about ppm (parts per million) scale emmisions in comparrision to our HUGE atmosphere.

If a few percent of the stuff plants breathe in is making only a one degree raise over 10 years. And I won't even get in the way of you, probobaly agreeing with global warming. That it is completley false and get right back to the question.

That maibe 100 ppm thrown into the atmosphere every month won't do anything until 10 million years.

Oh, and if the hydrogen wasn't made from more water and gotten from a diffren scource, we will pump more water vapor into the air, which is bad.

Water vapor is one of the big greenhouse gasses, and could have WAY more of an effect than carbon dioxide on the temprature if we put more than the naturally cyling into the enviroment.

But i'm prettey sure that they make it via hydrolisis (sp?) which takes it from water.

Answer 6

No.  Hydrogen is the most common element and we are doing just fine.  Frankly, I can think of much worst things to emit than hydrogen.

Answer 7

What Frank said. :)