Petroleum News

June 7, 2024

Top Headlines

Electrified Charcoal 'Sponge' Can Soak Up CO2 Directly from the Air

June 5, 2024 — Researchers have developed a low-cost, energy-efficient method for making materials that can capture carbon dioxide directly from the air. Researchers used a method similar to charging a battery to instead charge activated charcoal, which is often ...

Innovative Demand Strategies for Clean Energy

June 4, 2024 — A perspective piece describes innovative strategies that significantly reduce both resource consumption and fossil fuel ...

Overcoming Barriers to Heat Pump Adoption in Cold Climates and Avoiding the 'Energy Poverty Trap'

May 31, 2024 — Converting home heating systems from natural gas furnaces to electric heat pumps is seen as a way to address climate change by reducing greenhouse gas ...

New Method Makes Hydrogen from Solar Power and Agricultural Waste

May 30, 2024 — Engineers have helped design a new method to make hydrogen gas from water using only solar power and agricultural waste such as manure or husks. The method reduces the energy needed to extract hydrogen from water by 600%, creating new opportunities ...

Latest Headlines

updated 3:27pm EDT

Combating Carbon Footprint: Novel Reactor System Converts Carbon Dioxide Into Usable Fuel

May 27, 2024 — Boilers are a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. In a recent study, researchers developed a method to convert CO2 emissions from small boilers ...

Controlling Water, Transforming Greenhouse Gases

May 24, 2024 — Researchers have outlined a way to manipulate water molecules to make CO2R more efficient, with the ultimate goal of creating a clean energy loop. Through their new method, the team was able to ...

New Polystyrene Recycling Process Could Be World's First to Be Both Economical and Energy-Efficient

May 22, 2024 — Engineers have modeled a new way to recycle polystyrene that could become the first viable way of making the material ...

Charting a Pathway to Next-Gen Biofuels

May 23, 2024 — From soil to sequestration, researchers have modeled what a supply chain for second-generation biofuels might look like in the midwestern United ...

Recycling Carbon Dioxide Into Household Chemicals

May 21, 2024 — Scientists report a family of tin-based catalysts that efficiently converts CO2 into ethanol, acetic acid and formic acid. These liquid hydrocarbons are among the most produced chemicals in the U.S ...

Can Coal Mines Be Tapped for Rare Earth Elements?

May 20, 2024 — A team of geologists analyzed 3,500 samples taken in and around coal mines in Utah and Colorado. Their findings open the possibility that these mines could see a secondary resource stream in the form ...

Wind Farms Can Offset Their Emissions Within Two Years

May 16, 2024 — After spinning for under two years, a wind farm can offset the carbon emissions generated across its entire 30-year lifespan, when compared to thermal power ...

Studying Bubbles Can Lead to More Efficient Biofuel Motors

May 15, 2024 — By studying how bubbles form in a drop of biodiesel, researchers can help future engines get the most energy out of the ...

Green Concrete Recycling Twice the Coal Ash Is Built to Last

May 15, 2024 — New modelling reveals that low-carbon concrete can recycle double the amount of coal ash compared to current standards, halve the amount of cement required and perform exceptionally well over ...

The Case for Sharing Carbon Storage Risk

May 14, 2024 — Even the most optimistic projections for the rapid build-out of solar, wind, and other low-carbon resources acknowledge that coal, natural gas, and other fossil fuels will dominate the world's energy ...

Petroleum, Chlorine Mix Could Yield Harmful Byproducts

May 14, 2024 — A new study shows that chlorine mixed with petroleum in water can potentially produce inadvertent byproducts harmful to human ...

The Price Tag of Phasing-out Coal

May 13, 2024 — Coal phase-out is necessary to solve climate change, but can have negative impacts on workers and local communities dependent on coal for their livelihoods. Researchers have studied government plans ...

From Fossils to Fuel: Mozambique's Maniamba Basin's Energy Potential

May 7, 2024 — In the ever-expanding search for energy resources, a new study has emerged from Mozambique's Maniamba Basin. Mozambique's Maniamba Basin could be a big source of natural ...

Millions in Costs Due to Discharge of Scrubber Water Into the Baltic Sea

May 7, 2024 — Discharge from ships with so-called scrubbers cause great damage to the Baltic Sea. A new study shows that these emissions caused pollution corresponding to socio-economic costs of more than EUR 680 ...

Methane Emissions from Landfill Could Be Turned Into Sustainable Jet Fuel in Plasma Chemistry Leap

Apr. 30, 2024 — Researchers have developed a chemical process using plasma that could create sustainable jet fuel from methane gas emitted from landfills, potentially creating a low-carbon aviation ...

A Virus Could Help Save Billions of Gallons of Wastewater Produced by Fracking

Apr. 30, 2024 — An estimated 168 billion gallons of wastewater -- or produced water -- is generated annually by the Permian Basin fracking industry, according to a 2022 report. The major waste stream has proved both ...

Discovery of Mechanism Plants Use to Change Seed Oil Could Impact Industrial, Food Oils

Apr. 30, 2024 — Researchers have discovered a new mechanism of oil biosynthesis and found a way to genetically engineer a type of test plant to more efficiently produce different kinds of seed oil that it otherwise ...

Estimating Emissions Potential of Decommissioned Gas Wells from Shale Samples

Apr. 25, 2024 — Extracting natural gas from shale formations can provide an abundant, lower-carbon footprint fossil fuel, but also creates concerns over increased methane emissions. Researchers have now developed a ...

The Longer Spilled Oil Lingers in Freshwater, the More Persistent Compounds It Produces

Apr. 25, 2024 — Oil is an important natural resource for many industries, but it can lead to serious environmental damage when accidentally spilled. While large oil spills are highly publicized, every year there are ...

How Electric Vehicle Drivers Can Escape Range Anxiety

Apr. 25, 2024 — Two of the biggest challenges faced by new and potential electric vehicle (EV) drivers are range anxiety and speed of charging, but these shouldn't have to be challenges at all. Researchers ...

Laser-Treated Cork Absorbs Oil for Carbon-Neutral Ocean Cleanup

Apr. 23, 2024 — Researchers use laser treatments to transform ordinary cork into a powerful tool for treating oil spills. They tested variations of a fast-pulsing laser treatment, closely examining the nanoscopic ...

Coal Train Pollution Increases Health Risks and Disparities

Apr. 18, 2024 — The first health impact study of coal train pollution centers on the San Francisco Bay Area, with scientists finding communities near passing coal trains suffer worse health ...

Can Bismuth Prevent Oil Leaks?

Apr. 18, 2024 — Companies can't simply walk away from old oil and gas wells. They have to be capped in a way that protects the environment and prevents leaks. A new approach to today's solution could be ...

Clearing the Air: Wind Farms More Land Efficient Than Previously Thought

Apr. 17, 2024 — Wind power is a source of energy that is both affordable and renewable. However, decision-makers have been reluctant to invest in wind energy due to a perception that wind farms require a lot of land ...

Nanoscale Movies Shed Light on One Barrier to a Clean Energy Future

Apr. 11, 2024 — New research is shedding light on one barrier to a clean energy future: corrosion. Using nanoscale imaging techniques, researchers have captured high-resolution videos of tiny crystals of ruthenium ...

Subterranean Storage of Hydrogen

Apr. 9, 2024 — Scientists are using computer simulations and laboratory experiments to see if depleted oil and natural gas reservoirs can be used for storing carbon-free hydrogen fuel. Hydrogen is an important ...

Using Pulp and Paper Waste to Scrub Carbon from Emissions

Apr. 8, 2024 — Researchers have come up with an innovative approach to improve the energy efficiency of carbon conversion, using waste material from pulp and paper production. The technique they've pioneered ...

'Tug of War' Tactic Enhances Chemical Separations for Critical Materials

Apr. 3, 2024 — Lanthanide elements are important for clean energy and other applications. To use them, industry must separate mixed lanthanide sources into individual elements using costly, time-consuming, and ...

Chemistry Researchers Modify Solar Technology to Produce a Less Harmful Greenhouse Gas

Apr. 2, 2024 — Researchers are using semiconductors to harvest and convert the sun's energy into high-energy compounds that have the potential to produce environmentally-friendly ...

Engineers 'Symphonize' Cleaner Ammonia Production

Apr. 1, 2024 — Among the many chemicals we use every day, ammonia is one of the worst for the atmosphere. The nitrogen-based chemical used in fertilizer, dyes, explosives and many other products ranks second only ...