Petroleum News

January 26, 2025

Top Headlines

Technology for Oxidizing Atmospheric Methane Won't Help the Climate

Jan. 17, 2025 — Atmospheric scientists show proposed 'geoengineering' effort to remove methane, a potent greenhouse gas, from the atmosphere could worse air quality while providing minimal climate ...

Just as Gouda: Improving the Quality of Cheese Alternatives

Jan. 14, 2025 — Scientists are working to produce plant-based cheese with all the characteristics of real cheese, but with better health benefits. To create a cheesy product with the same texture as the real thing, they looked at a variety of physical attributes ...

From Carbon Dioxide to Acetaldehyde: Toward Greener Industrial Chemistry

Jan. 3, 2025 — Scientists have developed a copper catalyst that can efficiently convert carbon dioxide into acetaldehyde, a key chemical used in manufacturing. The breakthrough offers a green alternative to fossil-fuel-based ...

Storing Carbon in Buildings Could Help Address Climate Change

Jan. 9, 2025 — Construction materials such as concrete and plastic have the potential to lock away billions of tons of carbon dioxide, according to a new study by civil engineers and earth systems scientists. The study shows that combined with steps to decarbonize ...

Latest Headlines

updated 11:07pm EST

Team Makes Sustainable Aviation Fuel Additive from Recycled Polystyrene

Jan. 13, 2025 — A new study overcomes a key obstacle to switching commercial aircraft from their near-total reliance on fossil fuels to more sustainable aviation fuels. The study details a cost-effective method for ...

Training Solar Panels to Dance With the Wind

Dec. 17, 2024 — Researchers propose a unique numerical decision-making framework for solar panel protection against extreme weather conditions. The framework combines advanced wind simulations with machine learning ...

New Device Produces Critical Fertilizer Ingredient from Thin Air, Cutting Carbon Emissions

Dec. 13, 2024 — A new prototype device demonstrates an innovative approach to producing ammonia -- a key component of fertilizer -- that could transform an industry ...

New Research Provides an Improved Understanding of Earthquake Hazards in the Permian Basin

Dec. 2, 2024 — A new collection of published papers offers the most detailed and comprehensive breakdown yet of how water injected into the Permian Basin during oil ...

From Chip Shop to Pit Stop -- Scientists Make Old Cooking Oil Biofuel as Efficient as Diesel

Dec. 6, 2024 — A new way to produce fuels made from leftover fat can create biofuel as effective as diesel and 1000-times more efficiently than current methods a ...

Nano-Patterned Copper Oxide Sensor for Ultra-Low Hydrogen Detection

Nov. 22, 2024 — A novel hydrogen sensor offers a promising solution for real-time hydrogen leak detection, addressing safety concerns in industrial applications. This sensor, made with nano-patterned cupric-oxide ...

Improved Catalyst Turns Harmful Greenhouse Gases Into Cleaner Fuels, Chemical Feedstocks

Nov. 26, 2024 — A chemical reaction can convert two polluting greenhouse gases into valuable building blocks for cleaner fuels and feedstocks, but the high ...

Engineered Additive Makes Low-Cost Renewable Energy Storage a Possibility

Nov. 22, 2024 — As part of an effort to overcome the long-term energy-storage challenge, engineers have invented a water-soluble chemical additive that improves the performance of a type of electrochemical storage ...

Turning Carbon Emissions Into Methane Fuel

Nov. 20, 2024 — Chemists have developed a novel way to capture and convert carbon dioxide into methane, suggesting that future gas emissions could be converted into an alternative fuel using electricity from ...

Novel Electro-Biodiesel a More Efficient, Cleaner Alternative to Existing Alternatives

Nov. 14, 2024 — Scientists create biodiesel with electrocatalysis and ...

Engineers Make Converting CO2 Into Useful Products More Practical

Nov. 13, 2024 — A new electrode design developed at MIT boosts the efficiency of electrochemical reactions that turn carbon dioxide into ethylene and other ...

Fossil Fuel CO2 Emissions Increase Again in 2024

Nov. 12, 2024 — Global carbon emissions from fossil fuels have reached a record high in 2024, according to new ...

Hydrogels Harness Sunlight: A Step Closer to Artificial Photosynthesis

Nov. 6, 2024 — Researchers designed bioinspired hydrogels capable of using sunlight to produce hydrogen and oxygen from water. Hydrogels contain polymer networks that facilitate energy conversion, offering a ...

Towards a Hydrogen-Powered Future: Highly Sensitive Hydrogen Detection System

Nov. 5, 2024 — Hydrogen, a promising fuel, has extensive applications in many sectors. However, its safe and widespread use necessitates reliable sensing methods. While tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy ...

Fueling Greener Aviation With Hydrogen

Nov. 1, 2024 — Despite ongoing efforts to curb CO2 emissions with electric and hybrid vehicles, other forms of transportation remain significant contributors of greenhouse gases. To address this issue, old ...

Scientists Develop Cellulose Recycling Method With Applications Ranging from Textiles to Medical Devices

Oct. 30, 2024 — In the search for more sustainable uses of cellulose, scientists have developed a production method for a nanofibrous cellulose matrix, which has the potential to replace non-renewable industrial ...

New AI Model Could Make Power Grids More Reliable Amid Rising Renewable Energy Use

Oct. 24, 2024 — Researchers use AI to manage the growing complexity of modern power ...

Assessing the Real Climate Costs of Manufacturing

Oct. 24, 2024 — Producing materials such as steel, plastics and cement in the United States alone inflicts $79 billion a year in climate-related damage around the world, according to a new study by engineers and ...

Fire-Risk Blocking Self-Powered Hydrogen Production System

Oct. 24, 2024 — By using a water-splitting system with an aqueous electrolyte, this system is expected to block fire risks and enable stable hydrogen ...

Researchers Unlock the 'Silicate Magic' for Safer, Cheaper, and More Efficient Batteries

Oct. 17, 2024 — A research team is exploring new battery technologies for grid energy storage. The team's recent results suggest that iron, when treated with the electrolyte additive silicate, could create a ...

Engineers Unveil Breakthrough in Ultra-Clean Biofuel Technology

Oct. 17, 2024 — Researchers have unveiled a pioneering method for the efficient combustion of biofuels, using a revolutionary Swirl Burst (SB) injector to burn glycerol/methanol blends with near-zero emissions. This ...

New Research Reveals How Large-Scale Adoption of Electric Vehicles Can Improve Air Quality and Human Health

Oct. 15, 2024 — A new study suggests that large-scale adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) could lead to significant population-level health benefits. The research team used computer simulations to show that ...

Despite Progress, China Remains Tethered to Coal as Climate Change Pressures Mount

Oct. 8, 2024 — A new paper details how China faces numerous political, economic and technological obstacles as it tries to transition away from coal while balancing the need to combat climate change with the need ...

Liquefied Natural Gas Carbon Footprint Is Worse Than Coal

Oct. 3, 2024 — Liquefied natural gas leaves a greenhouse gas footprint that is 33% worse than coal, when processing and shipping are taken into account, according to a new ...

Getting to Zero Emissions: A Call for Unified Energy Planning

Sep. 30, 2024 — To help speed decarbonization, state regulators should reconceive of gas and electric utilities as serving the same purpose, according to a new report. Without coordinated action, the energy ...

New Continuous Reaction Process Can Help Turn Plant Waste Into Sustainable Aviation Fuel

Sep. 26, 2024 — Scientists successfully tested a new way to produce sustainable jet fuel from lignin-based agricultural waste. The team's research demonstrated a continuous process that directly converts lignin ...

Manganese Cathodes Could Boost Lithium-Ion Batteries

Sep. 25, 2024 — Manganese is earth-abundant and cheap. A new process could help make it a contender to replace nickel and cobalt in ...

New Catalyst Developed for Sustainable Propylene Production from Biomass

Sep. 24, 2024 — Researchers have found a way to use a component of glycerol to produce bio-based ...

Technology Could Boost Renewable Energy Storage

Sep. 16, 2024 — Renewable energy sources like wind and solar are critical to sustaining our planet, but they come with a big challenge: they don't always generate power when it's needed. To make the most ...

Discovery Could Lead to Longer-Lasting EV Batteries, Hasten Energy Transition

Sep. 12, 2024 — Researchers have discovered why lithium-ion batteries, which power most electronic devices, lose capacity overtime. The findings could enable the development of electric vehicles that go far longer ...