Submitted by Realistic-Plant3957 t3_zz1fxq in Futurology
Shot-Job-8841 t1_j2a4rfe wrote
Reply to comment by BoomZhakaLaka in Green Hydrogen - Not The Fuel Of The Future by Realistic-Plant3957
> Another very problematic byproduct of electrolysis is brine. Handled improperly, brine disposal on an industrial scale could devastate entire ecosystems. That would include large ocean biomes. Responsible brine disposal is expensive, so will big industry do the right thing?
I know an industrial employer who just made sure their Brine was dumped 5NM from land and said that was sufficient. I’m still struggling to understand why they believed that.
BoomZhakaLaka t1_j2a7eip wrote
Scale changes everything. I could accept this answer from a power plant running a desalinator to get their pure water. But, larger operations are a problem, and hopefully your person's company is doing continuous environmental impact study.
Feisty_Ad_961 t1_j2ahus7 wrote
I'm not an expert on EPA regulations but the very specific 5NM sounds like it probably comes from some law or permit the company has.
jawshoeaw t1_j2cnor6 wrote
It would depend on ocean current depth wind patterns etc but the oceans are massive, beyond our understanding. We can never make enough hydrogen to alter ocean chemistry assuming the byproducts are properly dispersed.
Shot-Job-8841 t1_j2cqm3u wrote
Oh, no this wasn’t for making hydrogen. We were making feed water from salt water.
zenfalc t1_j2cr85e wrote
Correct. But there's money involved in doing it properly, so assume many businesses will intentionally do it improperly
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