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Nicola J. Warwick coauthored modelling of the atmospheric and climatic effects of a future hydrogen economy. The analysis separates leaked molecular hydrogen from changes in other emissions associated with energy-system replacement.

Hydrogen leakage can alter atmospheric oxidation chemistry, affecting methane and ozone. Consequently, the climate effect depends on both leakage and the emissions displaced by the new system.^[ref]

For the tropospheric OH budget, let $P$ be hydroxyl radical production per unit volume and $K$ its total first-order loss frequency. The present hydroxyl radical steady state hasHere one year is $365.25$ days; using it consistently makes the reported lifetimes in years independent of that conversion convention. Methane's chemical lifetime is ${\tau }_0=1/(k_2[\mathrm{OH}{]}_0)$, givingThe current combined loss frequency already includes existing hydrogen, so add only the incremental hydrogen sink:Holding production and the other losses fixed then gives $[\mathrm{OH}{]}_1=5.107\times 10^5\mathrm{molecules}\mathrm{c}{\mathrm{m}}^{-3}$ andThe rapid hydroxyl radical adjustment time, $1/K$ of order a second, supports its steady-state approximation in this box model. Subsequent methane growth would itself change hydroxyl radical consumption, so the computed increase is not a fully coupled long-term atmospheric prediction. Detailed molecular hydrogen modelling treats changes in methane, ozone and stratospheric water alongside reductions in other precursor emissions.^[ref]