Re: [MLUG - DISCUSSION] H2O -> H2 & O3 ???

[Nathan Leigh <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

Christian M. Cepel wrote:
> Assuming that the depletion of O3 is one of the biggest worry of those 
> with environmental concerns, and that H2 is the fuel of the future and 
> that nobody has any issue with that being sourced from seawater, if 
> there any reason why the conversion of H2O to H2 could not be made to 
> produce O3 instead of O2 and increase the Ozone content of our 
> atmosphere?   Can producing O3 help patch the hole, or has that become 
> passe with more concentration on the buildup of greenhouse gases?  The 
> keyword for the first 2/3rds of my life was Chloro Flouro Hydrocarbons 
> (Spelling?), and now that we've got Styrofoam all but eliminated, and 
> aerosol propellants replaced and  CFC compressor coolant gases 
> replaced, I've heard nothing in the line of positive "Yeah! we wiped 
> out that piece of the equation."   Anyone know what the deal is in 
> layman's terms?
Ozone at high altitude absorbs ultraviolet light, keeping much of it 
from reaching earth's surface and causing more sunburns and skin 
cancers.  (The upside of more ground-level UV would be a booming market 
in sunglasses for those UV-seeing insects...)  Ozone at low altitudes 
helps form smog and, in sufficient concentrations, is actually toxic.

For the marvelous self-healing ozone layer, I think the ounce of 
prevention beats the pound of cure.

<chemistry>
Ozone is produced at high altitudes when molecular oxygen (O2) absorbs 
UV light - the O2 splits into 2 (highly reactive) oxygen atoms, each of 
which can cozy up to a molecule of oxygen to produce O3.  O3 can absorb 
UV light also, splitting into O2 and an oxygen atom - so the process is 
cyclic.

CFCs ("f-l-u-o-r-o", as a high school chem teacher beat it into our 
heads many years ago) that reach the upper fringes of the atmosphere 
will absorb UV light, producing atomic chlorine which reacts repeatedly 
with ozone and atomic oxygen to produce molecular oxygen (also cyclic, 
but the products are O2 and that voracious chlorine atom).

Ozone absorbs certain wavelengths of UV light that oxygen does not, so 
O3 plays a crucial role in keeping light of those wavelengths from 
frying us.
</chemistry>

Nathan


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