ScienceDaily: Petroleum News
Petroleum Engineering. From coal-based jet fuel to undiscovered petroleum resources, read all the petroleum industry news here.

ScienceDaily: Petroleum News
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Inventor, Engineering Students Explore New Type Of Solar Collectors
A team of students led by a chemical engineering professor are working with a New Jersey inventor to advance a new solar thermal collector. The engineering students pointed out that this is the first truly new solar thermal system in more than three decades, and the company stated that it is unique among renewable energy technologies as it is cost effective without any government subsidies.

Newest GREET Model Updates Environmental Impacts Of Specific Fuels And Automobiles
The newest version of the Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions and Energy use in Transportation model will provide researchers with even more tools to evaluate and compare the environmental impacts of new transportation fuels and advanced vehicle technologies. The newest update released May 9 will allow scientists to model combustion of ethanol produced from Brazilian sugarcane and used by U.S. automobiles; production and use of bio-butanol as a potential transportation fuel; and production and use of biodiesel and renewable diesel via hydrogenation, coal/biomass co-feeding for Fischer-Tropsch diesel production and various corn ethanol plant types with different process fuels.

Carbon Dioxide Capture And Storage: Grasping At Straws In The Climate Debate?
Great hopes are being placed on undeveloped technology. Capturing and storing carbon dioxide is predicted to be one of the most important measures to counter the threats to our climate. But the technology still hasn't been tested in full scale, and the complications and risks it entails may have been grossly underestimated.

New Polymer Product From Soy Oil, Not Petroleum
Hair-care products, wound-care dressings and drug encapsulation are among the potential uses of new, soy-oil-based polymers known as "hydrogels." Chemists developed the soy-oil-based hydrogels as a biodegradable alternative to the synthetic polymers now used, including polyacrylic acid and polyacrylamide.

Newly Discovered Water, Oil And Gas Locations Surveyed In Afghanistan
The USGS recently collected new information to aid in resource and hazards assessments of Afghanistan. This survey presents valuable new information to policymakers, potential private investors, and the public in that the data will help identify fault lines and the potential location of undiscovered water, oil and gas, and non-fuel mineral resources in Afghanistan. Data was acquired from an airborne geophysical and photographic survey of the country.

Pricing Can Cut Carbon Dioxide Emissions From Electric Generators
Levying a price on carbon dioxide released by electric generators could considerably reduce greenhouse gas emissions -- even before the deployment of any environmentally friendly technology -- according to scientists.

Low-Carbon Electricity is Needed To Power Plug-in Hybrids
Engineering researchers report that plug-in hybrid electric vehicles could help reduce greenhouse gas emissions that fuel global warming, but the benefits are highly dependent on how the electricity system changes in the coming decades.

UK's Iconic 1930s Semi-detached House Goes Green
The 1930s semi-detached house: three million of them were built in the United Kingdom, they stimulated a boom in employment, and they turned a nation of shop keepers into a nation of home owners.

Water Needed To Produce Various Types Of Energy
It is easy to overlook that most of the energy we consume daily, such as electricity or natural gas, is produced with the help of a dwindling resource -- fresh water. Scientists are researching the water-efficiency of some of the most common energy sources and power generating methods.

Questioning Nuclear Power's Ability To Forestall Global Warming
Rising energy and environmental costs may prevent nuclear power from being a sustainable alternative energy source in the fight against global warming, according to a new study.

Aerodynamic Truck Trailer Cuts Fuel And Emissions By Up To 15 Percent
Creating an improved aerodynamic shape for truck trailers by mounting sideskirts can lead to a cut in fuel consumption and emissions of up to as much as 15%. Earlier promising predictions, based on mathematical models and wind tunnel tests have been confirmed during road tests with an adapted trailer.

Nuclear Power: Most Successful Fuel Performance Ever For US Advanced Gas Reactor Fuel
Advanced gas reactors offer more efficient operation, less waste disposal and other benefits over water-cooled reactor designs used in U.S. nuclear power plants. But creating fuel that burns efficiently and reliably in the higher temperatures of advanced gas reactors has been a challenge -- until now. Fuel fabricated at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in cooperation with Idaho National Laboratory and the Babcock & Wilcox Company, has demonstrated the most successful performance ever for U.S. advanced gas reactor fuel.

Berkeley Lab Examines State-level Renewables Portfolio Standards Policies
Renewable electricity is being supported by a growing number of states through the creation of renewables portfolio standards. A new report provides a comprehensive overview of the early experiences with these state-level RPS policies.

Scientist Seeks Ways To Squeeze More Oil Out Of Existing Wells
Scientists studying petroleum microbiology are figuring out how to squeeze more petroleum out of abandoned or soon-to-be-abandoned oil fields. One Mississippi State researcher already has extended the life of one field by 17 years. That may sound far-fetched for those unfamiliar with his ongoing research that involves the forced growth of oil-chasing microbes used to redirect injected water that, in turn, sweeps once-inaccessible oil from old wells into production.

Expert Foresees 10 More Years Of Research & Development To Make Solar Energy Competitive
Despite oil prices that hover around $100 a barrel, it may take at least 10 or more years of intensive research to reduce the cost of solar energy to levels competitive with petroleum, according to a leading expert on the topic.

Electricity And Gas Consumption At A Glance
People who want to save energy should always keep an eye on their consumption. The EWE Box offers customers a neat solution: It enables private households to monitor their electricity and gas consumption whenever they want -- and save costs thanks to new pricing models.

Sugar-powered Cars: World's Most Efficient Method To Produce Hydrogen Developed
Sugar-powered cars may be in your future. Chemists report development of a "revolutionary" process for converting plant sugars into hydrogen, which could be used to cheaply and efficiently power vehicles equipped with hydrogen fuel cells without producing any pollutants.

Energy Research: Researchers Consider Future Challenges, Opportunities
Escalating oil and gas prices along with the global challenge of climate change has in the past few years spurred a generation of scientists to pursue alternative energy sources while redirecting the focus away from fossil fuels. What is the current status, limitations and future challenges of alternative energy sources?

Potential Hydrogen-storage Compound Could Fuel Hydrogen-Powered Cars
One of the key engineering challenges to building a clean, efficient, hydrogen-powered car is how to design the fuel tank. Storing enough raw hydrogen for a reasonable driving range would require either impractically high pressures for gaseous hydrogen or extremely low temperatures for liquid hydrogen. A novel class of materials potentially could enable a practical hydrogen fuel tank for cars.

Algae Could One Day Be Major Hydrogen Fuel Source
As gas prices continue to soar to record highs, motorists are crying out for an alternative that won't cramp their pocketbooks. Scientists are answering that call by working to chemically manipulate algae for production of the next generation of renewable fuels -- hydrogen gas.

Flameless Combustion Could Allow Power Generation From Gas Without Pollution, Researchers Suggest
Could combustion without flames be used to build industrial gas turbines for power generation that are much more efficient than current models and produce almost no polluting emissions? Researchers in the Middle East now provide a possible answer in the International Journal of the Environment and Pollution.

New System Aims To Efficiently Convert Biomass To Ethanol
Researchers are developing an integrated system of thermochemical and catalytic technologies to efficiently produce ethanol from plant biomass. It will use a nanotechnology-based catalyst to produce ethanol fuel.

Portable Hydrogen-generating Power System Could Lighten Soldiers Load
Researchers are developing a portable, hydrogen-generating power system to power everything from laptops to communications gear for soldiers in the battlefield. The system transforms jet fuel into hydrogen and will relive soldiers from having to carry heavy loads of batteries. Individual soldiers carry between 20 to 40 pounds of batteries on standard four-day missions. The batteries power soldiers' personal portable electronics, such as GPS systems and night-vision goggles.

BMW Hydrogen 7 Emissions Well-below Super-ultra Low-emission Vehicle Standards, Government Tests Confirm
Independent tests conducted by engineers at the US Department of Energy on a BMW Hydrogen 7 Mono-Fuel demonstration vehicle have found that the car's hydrogen-powered engine surpasses the super-ultra low-emission vehicle level, the most stringent emissions performance standard to date.

Clean-vehicle Research Initiative Making Progress: Midcourse shift in strategic plan needed
A public-private effort to develop technologies for more fuel-efficient automobiles and to investigate the feasibility of hydrogen-based vehicles has made significant progress in most research areas, says a new report.

Coal Reemerges As Important Raw Material In Chemical Manufacturing Industry
With oil prices hovering around $100 per barrel, coal is reemerging as a key raw material in the manufacture of the basic chemical materials used to make plastics, fertilizers, and hundreds of other products, according to an article in Chemical & Engineering News.

Clean Diesel Possible With New Diesel Particulate Filter Technology
Most diggers and construction machines discharge unfiltered exhaust fumes into the air. This is because special vehicles are made in small batches, and each requires a different filter geometry. Diesel soot filters of varying shapes can now be produced at competitive prices. Modern diesel cars are not only quieter than their predecessors but also release considerably fewer exhaust fumes into the atmosphere. The filters for heavy-duty, construction and off-road vehicles are not yet state-of-the-art. A new diesel particulate filter technology will soon teach even these vehicles to give up smoking.

Nuclear Fuel Performance Milestone Achieved
The research to improve the performance of coated-particle nuclear fuel met an important milestone by reaching a burnup of 9 percent without any fuel failure. The research is key in supporting reactor licensing and operation for high-temperature reactors such as the Next Generation Nuclear Plant and similar reactors envisioned for subsequent commercial energy production.

Residential Oil Boilers Raise Health Concerns For Northeastern U.S.
New research suggests that residential oil boilers, commonly used for home heating in the northeastern United States, should receive more attention as sources of air pollutants. The study is the first to identify certain specific air pollutants in home heating oil emissions. Homes in the New England and Central Atlantic States consume about 80 percent of the 25 billion gallons of home heating oil burned in the United States. Scientists have been aware of potential public health effects of those emissions.

Alarming Growth In Expected Carbon Dioxide Emissions In China, Analysis Finds
The growth in China's carbon dioxide emissions is far outpacing the previously expected trajectory for the country, making the goal of stabilizing atmospheric greenhouse gases even more difficult, according to a new analysis.

Nuclear Power Not Efficient Enough To Replace Fossil Fuels, Study Finds
Nuclear energy must increase by more than 10% each year from 2010 to 2050 to meet all future energy demands and replace fossil fuels, but this is an unsustainable prospect. According to a new report such a large growth rate will require a major improvement in nuclear power efficiency otherwise each new power plant will simply cannibalize the energy produced by earlier nuclear power plants.

Ethanol Imports From Latin America May Help US Meet Energy Goals
Latin American nations could become important suppliers of ethanol for world markets in coming decades, according to a new study. Brazil's dynamic sugarcane industry could play an important role in future world trade in fuel ethanol. Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and members of the Caribbean Basin Initiative could produce sufficient feedstock for more than 30 billion gallons of ethanol per year by 2017, which would represent a six-fold increase over current production.

Promising New Material For Capturing Carbon Dioxide From Smokestacks
Researchers have developed a new, low-cost material for capturing carbon dioxide from the smokestacks of coal-fired power plants and other generators of the greenhouse gas. Produced with a simple one-step chemical process, the new material has a high capacity for absorbing carbon dioxide – and can be reused many times. Combined with improved heat management techniques, the new material could provide a cost-effective way to capture large quantities of carbon dioxide from coal-burning facilities.

Catalysis Discovery Takes Aim At NOx Emissions
A discovery in molecular chemistry may help remove a barrier to widespread use of diesel and other fuel-efficient "lean burn" vehicle engines. Researchers have recorded the first observations of how certain catalyst materials used in emission control devices are constructed.

Energy Strategy To Combat Climate Change Proposed
To even begin to combat climate change effectively, carbon dioxide emissions have to fall sharply: to 1 ton per capita per year. An energy strategy based on the three Es: increased efficiency, renewable energy and electrification may be what is needed to meet this goal.

What Does The Future Hold For Biofuels?
High oil prices, energy security considerations and fears about global warming have helped revive interest in renewable energy sources like biofuels. But there are a few catches. For example, the more corn is used in ethanol production, the less is available for food. Can these limitations be overcome to make biofuels a significant part of the US energy supply?

Coal Gasification Could Fuel Clean Coal: Myths, Challenges And Opportunities
With demand for electricity expected to double by 2050 and renewable resources still years away from offsetting increased demand, it is clear -- coal is here to stay. But can "dirty" coal be used cleanly? The answer may be a resounding yes if gasification becomes common place.

Ethanol Revolution Links Agriculture, Energy Sectors In New Model
The recent boom in production of ethanol from corn grain has tightly linked the agriculture and energy sectors in an unprecedented fashion. Researchers have now developed a model, based on a range of possible oil prices, that predicts impacts of federal economic policies on future consumer and government costs, ethanol production and many other aspects of the two sectors.

Carbon Capture Strategy Could Lead To Emission-free Cars
Researchers have developed a strategy to capture, store and eventually recycle carbon from vehicles. They envision a zero emission car, and a transportation system completely free of fossil fuels. Little research has been done to explore carbon capture from vehicles, but now a team of scientists outline an economically feasible strategy for processing fossil or synthetic, carbon-containing liquid fuels that allows for the capture and recycling of carbon at the point of emission.

Biofuel Crops That Require Destroying Native Ecosystems Worsens Global Warming
Turning native ecosystems into "farms" for biofuel crops causes major carbon emissions that worsen the global warming that biofuels are meant to mitigate, according to a new study. The carbon lost by converting rainforests, peatlands, savannas, or grasslands outweighs the carbon savings from biofuels. Such conversions for corn or sugarcane (ethanol), or palms or soybeans (biodiesel) release 17 to 420 times more carbon than the annual savings from replacing fossil fuels, the researchers said. The carbon, which is stored in the original plants and soil, is released as carbon dioxide, a process that may take decades. This "carbon debt" must be paid before the biofuels produced on the land can begin to lower greenhouse gas levels and ameliorate global warming.

Environmentally Friendly Technology Can Produce Commonly Used Compound, Ethylene
A new environmentally friendly technology may revolutionize the production of the world's most commonly produced organic compound, ethylene. Ethylene has a vast number of uses in all aspects of industry. Farmers and horticulturalists use it as a plant hormone to promote flowering and ripening, especially in bananas. Doctors and surgeons have also long used ethylene as an anesthetic, while ethylene-based polymers can be found in everything from freezer bags to fiberglass.

Bio-crude Turns Cheap Waste Into Valuable Fuel
Scientists have developed a chemical process that turns green waste into a stable bio-crude oil. The bio-crude oil can be used to produce high value chemicals and biofuels, including both petrol and diesel replacement fuels.

Chiral Building Blocks For New Pharmaceuticals Finally Available In Large Quantities
Through a combination of one biotechnological and one chemical step, and starting from sunflower oil, scientists have devised a large-scale synthesis of (2R-3S)-isocitric acid, the last intermediate in the citric acid cycle to become available in bulk quantities. Smaller, easily accessible chiral compounds are useful building blocks for the synthesis of complex natural products and are interesting starting materials for the pharmaceutical industry. Isocitric acid makes available a new assortment of such chiral building blocks.

Finding New Oil In Long-exhausted Oil Wells
Oil reappears from time to time in old deposits and long ago exhausted oil wells. Oil sometimes rushes in or sometimes floods back.In the researchers' opinion, to overhaul old oil deposits is currently much more profitable and efficient than expensive geological exploration works at new locations.

Oil Exploration In Arctic Highly Risky: 'Response Gap' In Case Of Oil Spill, According To New Report
Arctic marine conditions contribute to an oil spill "response gap" that effectively limits the ability to clean up after an oil spill. A new report concludes that the only way to avoid the potentially devastating environmental risks is to ensure that no more of the Arctic is opened up to oil development until the response gap is closed.

E. Coli Bacteria: A Future Source Of Energy?
A professor has "tweaked" a strain of E. coli so that it produces substantial amounts of hydrogen. Specifically, the new strain produces 140 times more hydrogen than is created in a naturally occurring process, according to an article in Microbial Biotechnology.

Heat Pumps 'Go With The Flow' To Boost Output
Researchers are working to improve even more the performance of air-source heat pumps -- which already typically deliver up to three times more heating energy to a home than the electric energy they consume -- by providing engineers with computer-based tools for optimizing heat exchanger designs.

Natural Gas Formation By Bacteria Linked To Climate Change And Renewable Energy
Natural gas reservoirs in Michigan's Antrim Shale are providing new information about global warming and the Earth's climate history. The new study is also good news for energy companies hoping to make natural gas a renewable resource. Scientists found that carbon-hungry bacteria trapped deep in the rock beneath ice sheets produced the gas during the ice age, as glaciers advanced and retreated over Michigan.