Petroleum News

February 27, 2025

Top Headlines

Breakthrough in High-Performance Oxide-Ion Conductors Using Rubidium

Feb. 21, 2025 — Rubidium could be the next key player in oxide-ion conductors. Researchers have discovered a rare rubidium (Rb)-containing oxide-ion conductor with exceptionally high conductivity. Identified through computational screening and experiments, its ...

A Catalytic Two-Step: Transforming Industrial CO2 Into a Renewable Fuel

Feb. 19, 2025 — Scientists have taken a critical next step in creating a scalable process to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air and 'recirculate' it as a renewable fuel. Chemists now describe their latest breakthrough in creating methanol -- a widely used ...

Study Reveals Extent of Ecological Damage from Niger Delta Oil Spills

Feb. 18, 2025 — An international research team has used earth observation radar data to map oil pipeline networks covering a 9000 km2 region in the Niger Delta and pinpoint where crude oil spills have caused the most acute damage to the delicate mangrove ...

Researchers Are Driving the Charge of Zero Emissions

Feb. 10, 2025 — New research finds that electric vehicles generally produce less non-exhaust emissions compared with gasoline-powered ...

Latest Headlines

updated 11:06pm EST

Turning Car and Helicopter Exhaust Into Thermoelectric Energy

Feb. 11, 2025 — Combustion engines, the engines in gas-powered cars, only use a quarter of the fuel's potential energy while the rest is lost as heat through exhaust. Now, a study demonstrates how to convert exhaust ...

Rethinking Energy Demand Can Foster Sustainable Development and Reduce Emissions from Buildings and Transport

Feb. 6, 2025 — In a new study, scientists show that a mix of policy measures, including both technological solutions and behavioral changes, can significantly ...

Engineers Model Electric Grid Demand for EVs to Charge While in Motion

Feb. 4, 2025 — Running out of gas in a remote area far from a gas station is every driver's worst nightmare. A similar stressor, known as "range anxiety," exists for owners of electric vehicles who worry about how ...

Coal Emissions Cost India Millions in Crop Damages

Feb. 4, 2025 — New research shows grain yields critical to India's food security are dragged down 10% or more in many parts of the country by nitrogen dioxide pollution from power stations that run on coal. ...

Nanomaterials Are Emerging as a Powerful Tool for Coastal Oil Spill Cleanup

Feb. 4, 2025 — Advances in nanotechnology may provide solutions to oil spill cleanups in coastal regions that are more effective, safer and work much faster than current methods, according to a new paper. The paper ...

Electricity Prices Across Europe to Stabilize If 2030 Targets for Renewable Energy Are Met, Study Suggests

Feb. 3, 2025 — National targets for solar and wind power will see reliance on natural gas plummet, reducing electricity price volatility across Europe, with major ...

Plant-Based Substitute for Fossil Fuels Developed for Plastic Foams

Jan. 28, 2025 — An environmentally-friendly preparation of plant material from pine could serve as a substitute for petroleum-based chemicals in polyurethane foams. The innovation could lead to more environmentally ...

Floating Solar Increases Greenhouse Gas Emissions on Small Ponds

Jan. 27, 2025 — While floating solar -- the emerging practice of putting solar panels on bodies of water -- is promising in its efficiency and its potential to spare agricultural and conservation lands, a new ...

Researchers Discover New Way to Store Hydrogen Using Lignin Jet Fuel

Jan. 27, 2025 — An international team of scientists has discovered a way to store and release volatile hydrogen using lignin-based jet fuel that could open new pathways for sustainable energy production. In a new ...

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, ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 responsible for about one-third of global ...

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 new study has ...

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 and gas operations is changing subsurface ...

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 temperature required for the reaction also deactivates the ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...