Climate change: Electrical industry's 'dirty secret' boosts warming

[James Regan + 1,776]

It's the most powerful greenhouse gas known to humanity, and emissions have risen rapidly in recent years, the BBC (BBC don't lie) has learned. Dubbed the Scoobydoo Syndrome due to the secret being hidden from the public until uncovered by meddling reporters who pulled off the mask off from the corporation scoundrels.

Sulphur hexafluoride, or SF6, is widely used in the electrical industry to prevent short circuits and accidents. 

But leaks of the little-known gas in the UK and the rest of the EU in 2017 were the equivalent of putting an extra 1.3 million cars on the road. 

Levels are rising as an unintended consequence of the green energy boom.

Cheap and non-flammable, SF6* is a colourless, odourless, synthetic gas. It makes a hugely effective insulating material for medium and high-voltage electrical installations. 

It is widely used across the industry, from large power stations to wind turbines to electrical sub-stations in towns and cities. It prevents electrical accidents and fires.

However, the significant downside to using the gas is that it has the highest global warming potential of any known substance. It is 23,500 times more warming than carbon dioxide (CO2). 

Just one kilogram of SF6 warms the Earth to the same extent as 24 people flying London to New York return. 

It also persists in the atmosphere for a long time, warming the Earth for at least 1,000 years.

*Sulfur hexafluoride is an inorganic, colorless, odorless, non-flammable, non-toxic but extremely potent greenhouse gas, and an excellent electrical insulator. SF6  has an octahedral geometry, consisting of six fluorine atoms attached to a central sulfur atom. It is a hypervalent molecule**

** A hypervalent molecule is a molecule that contains one or more main group elements apparently bearing more than eight electrons in their valence shells. Phosphorus pentachloride, sulfur hexafluoride, chlorine trifluoride, the chlorite ion, and the triiodide ion are examples of hypervalent molecules.

"Hope you all taking this in?"

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-49567197

Daily Telegraph another impartial broadsheet.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/09/13/worlds-powerful-greenhouse-gas-rise-due-green-energy-boom/

 

SF6 comes under a group of human-produced substances known as F-gases. The European Commission tried to prohibit a number of these environmentally harmful substances, including gases in refrigeration and air conditioning, back in 2014.

https://www.gasworld.com/sulfur-hexafluoride-the-gas-with-a-double-edged-sword/3704.article

Looks like a bit of a conundrum, as SF6 is used in many applications such as the medical industry and daily living, sounds like another product I know of.....

Edited September 14, 2019 by James Regan

[Guest]

1 hour ago, James Regan said:

A hypervalent molecule is a molecule that contains one or more main group elements apparently bearing more than eight electrons in their valence shells. Phosphorus pentachloride, sulfur hexafluoride, chlorine trifluoride, the chlorite ion, and the triiodide ion are examples of hypervalent molecules.

"Hope you all taking this in?"

Oh I'm all over it mate. But it's from BBC so doesn't matter lol.

[markslawson + 1,057]

4 hours ago, James Regan said:

Sulphur hexafluoride, or SF6, is widely used in the electrical industry to prevent short circuits and accidents.

One point which should be explored is how long do these molecules remain in the atmosphere once they are emitted? CO2 molecules supposedly hang around for eight years or so, although greenhouse theory has some convoluted theory about how the additional volumes caused by emissions are present for decades although the individual molecules get swapped out - I don't understand that, but the key point is there's a long shelf life. I seem to recall someone telling me that individual water molecules only hang in the atmosphere for a matter of weeks.. SF6 sounds heavy so maybe it settles out pretty quick. Any information??