Petroleum News

May 2, 2024

Top Headlines

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Latest Headlines

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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 ...

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 better for ...

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 not ...

'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 ...

Pairing Crypto Mining With Green Hydrogen Offers Clean Energy Boost

Mar. 25, 2024 — Pairing cryptocurrency mining -- notable for its outsize consumption of carbon-based fuel -- with green hydrogen could provide the foundation for wider deployment of renewable energy, such as solar ...

Major Environmental Benefits Recycling Gold With Biodiesel

Mar. 25, 2024 — Researchers have developed an environmentally friendly method for recycling and purifying metals. Using gold earrings from a pawnshop in Gothenburg and biodiesel from the nearest filling station, the ...

New Reactor Could Save Millions When Making Ingredients for Plastics and Rubber from Natural Gas

Mar. 25, 2024 — A new way to make an important ingredient for plastics, adhesives, carpet fibers, household cleaners and more from natural gas could reduce manufacturing costs in a post-petroleum economy by millions ...

Researchers Take Major Step Toward Developing Next-Generation Solar Cells

Mar. 22, 2024 — Engineers have discovered a new way to manufacture solar cells using perovskite semiconductors. It could lead to lower-cost, more efficient systems for powering homes, cars, boats and ...

The Atlas of Unburnable Oil in the World

Mar. 15, 2024 — In order to limit the increase in global average temperature to 1.5 C, it is essential to drastically reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere. This would mean not exploiting most of the ...

New Study Quantifies Health Impacts from Oil and Gas Flaring in U.S.

Mar. 12, 2024 — A new study finds that pollution from oil and gas venting and flaring results in $7.4 billion in health damages, more than 700 premature deaths, and 73,000 asthma exacerbations among children ...

Mapping the Future's Sweet Spot for Clean Energy and Biodiversity

Mar. 8, 2024 — A new study of Joshua trees, kit foxes and solar energy developments highlights the need to consider climate-induced range shifts for species as we expand clean ...

Researchers Look at Environmental Impacts of AI Tools

Feb. 27, 2024 — As artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly used in radiology, researchers caution that it's essential to consider the environmental impact of AI ...

You May Be Breathing in More Tiny Nanoparticles from Your Gas Stove Than from Car Exhaust

Feb. 27, 2024 — Cooking on your gas stove can emit more nano-sized particles into the air than vehicles that run on gas or diesel, possibly increasing your risk of developing asthma or other respiratory illnesses, a ...

What Will It Take for China to Reach Carbon Neutrality by 2060?

Feb. 26, 2024 — To become carbon neutral by 2060, China will have to build eight to 10 times more wind and solar power installations than existed in 2022, according to a new study. Reaching carbon neutrality will ...

Electrification or Hydrogen? Both Have Distinct Roles in the European Energy Transition

Feb. 16, 2024 — A key step to achieving climate neutrality in the European Union is to rapidly shift from fossil fuels to electric technologies powered by renewable energies, a new study shows. At the same time, ...

Advanced Artificial Photosynthesis Catalyst Uses CO2 More Efficiently to Create Biodegradable Plastics

Feb. 16, 2024 — A research team that had previously succeeded in synthesizing fumaric acid using bicarbonate and pyruvic acid, and carbon dioxide collected directly from the gas phase as one of the raw materials, ...

'Scientists' Warning' on Climate and Technology

Feb. 15, 2024 — Throughout human history, technologies have been used to make peoples' lives richer and more comfortable, but they have also contributed to a global crisis threatening Earth's climate, ...

Benefits of Heat Pumps

Feb. 13, 2024 — Millions of U.S. households would benefit from heat pumps, but the cost of installing the technology needs to come down to make their use a more attractive ...

Greenhouse Gas Repurposed

Feb. 8, 2024 — Cutting-edge research converted waste carbon dioxide into a potential precursor for chemicals and carbon-free ...

Inexpensive, Carbon-Neutral Biofuels Are Finally Possible

Feb. 7, 2024 — When it comes to making fuel from plants, the first step has always been the hardest -- breaking down the plant matter. A new study finds that introducing a simple, renewable chemical to the ...

Japan's Electric Vehicle Transition by 2035 May Be Insufficient to Combat the Climate Crisis, but There Are Solutions

Feb. 7, 2024 — Researchers report that Japan's policy of banning the sale of new gas vehicles by 2035 may be insufficient to reduce the country's CO2 emissions. The team's analysis showed that to ...

Ammonia Attracts the Shipping Industry, but Researchers Warn of Its Risks

Feb. 5, 2024 — Switching to ammonia as a marine fuel, with the goal of decarbonization, can instead create entirely new problems. This is shown in a study where researchers carried out life cycle analyses for ...