Black Sea looks “green”

It’s always nice to see someone turning a frown upside-down. And that’s exactly what scientists are hoping to do in the Black Sea.

The Black Sea is an inland sea in Eastern Europe. Because of pollution, this body of water has been devoid of life for decades.

Also, the water lacks oxygen, which has given way for the production of high concentrations of hydrogen sulfide gas about 200 meters below the surface of the sea.

Hydrogen sulfide is a poisonous gas that, on top of being poisonous, smells like rotten eggs. So, how could it be possible that Turkish researchers are now looking to this noxious gas as a possible renewable resource?

Hydrogen is the key here. It has been said for a long time that hydrogen will be the future of renewable resources. But along with that, there have come a few problems. The major problem is its expensive production costs. It takes a significant amount of money to separate hydrogen from seawater.

The upside of this pollutant is that it is entirely possible to extract the hydrogen from it. Thermal, electrochemical and photochemical methods of extraction are already being explored.

For example, in thermal decomposition, scientists would only need to heat the hydrogen sulfide to between 1,472 and 2,732 degrees Fahrenheit to remove the hydrogen from the hydrogen sulfide.

Along with extracting hydrogen, the other problem has been the storage of the resource. Luckily, Turkey has the answer for that.

Turkey is home to many underground caves. The Kizilelma Cave, Turkey’s second-longest cave, has good potential for storage capabilities – that is, as long as it would not permit any leakage of the hydrogen.  

Experts are saying that since there is about 10 thousand tons of hydrogen sulfide entering the Black Sea every day, about 500 tons of pure hydrogen could be extracted from the water daily.

And to show just how “green” they can be, Turkish scientists are thinking of using solar power to make the whole process run. If that’s not green, I don’t know what is.

If this process works out, it will give the world a shining example of killing two birds with one stone. Not only will scientists be cleaning up the desolate Black Sea, they will also be creating a renewable resource that is better than any fossil fuel could hope to be.

And while looking at this whole situation, there is a sense of irony. Something we created, something that could have saved us, may now give us the one thing that could save our species.

It’s creative thinking like this that may give us a new chance at life. And hopefully, if this process works, it will make people all over the world think about how they can turn their frowns upside-down.