Fossil Fuels News

July 19, 2024

Top Headlines

Study Shows New Efficiency Standards for Heavy Trucks Could Boost Energy Use

July 18, 2024 — A new study suggests that the U.S. government's push to increase heavy-duty trucks' energy efficiency could encourage more shipping by truck instead of rail, reducing the policies' anticipated ...

Hydrogen Flight Looks Ready for Take-Off With New Advances

July 11, 2024 — The possibility of hydrogen-powered flight means greater opportunities for fossil-free travel, and the technological advances to make this happen are moving fast. New studies show that almost all air travel within a 750-mile radius (1200 km) could ...

Pinpointing Coal Plants to Convert to Nuclear Energy, Considering Both Practicality and Community Support

July 9, 2024 — An assessment ranks the feasibility of converting 245 operational coal power plants in the U.S. into advanced nuclear reactors, providing valuable insights for policymakers and utilities to meet ...

A 'Liquid Battery' Advance

June 12, 2024 — A team aims to improve options for renewable energy storage through work on an emerging technology -- liquids for hydrogen ...

Latest Headlines

updated 11:01pm EDT

Innovative Demand Strategies for Clean Energy

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

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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, ...

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 ...

Researchers Can Help Shipowners Achieve Ambitious Climate Targets

Apr. 16, 2024 — International shipping does not want to be a climate bad guy and is aiming to be emission-free by 2050. A new tool can help shipowners who are searching for green ...

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 ...

Magnetic Fields Boost Clean Energy

Apr. 3, 2024 — Researchers show that using magnetic fields can boost electrocatalysis for sustainable fuel production by enhancing the movement of the reactants, which improves the efficiency of energy-related ...

Earlier Headlines

Recyclable Reagent and Sunlight Convert Carbon Monoxide Into Methanol

Mar. 20, 2024 — Scientists have demonstrated the selective conversion of carbon dioxide (CO2) into methanol using a cascade reaction strategy. The two-part process is powered by sunlight, occurs at room temperature ...

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 ...

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 ...

Improving Fuel Cell Durability With Fatigue-Resistant Membranes

Feb. 6, 2024 — In hydrogen fuel cells, electrolyte membranes frequently undergo deformation and develop cracks during operation. A research team has recently introduced a fatigue-resistant polymer electrolyte ...

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 ...

Major Climate Benefits With Electric Aircraft

Jan. 23, 2024 — Researchers have performed the world's first life cycle assessment (LCA) of an existing, two-seater, all-electric aircraft, with a direct comparison to an equivalent fossil fuel-powered one. ...

A Non-Proliferation Solution: Using Antineutrinos to Surveil Nuclear Reactors

Jan. 17, 2024 — Antineutrinos generated in nuclear fission can be measured to remotely monitor the operation of nuclear reactors and verify that they are not being used to produce nuclear weapons, report scientists. ...

Using Idle Trucks to Power the Grid With Clean Energy

Jan. 15, 2024 — Researchers are tapping into idled electric vehicles to act as mobile generators and help power overworked and aging electricity grids. After analyzing energy demand on Alberta's power grid ...

Green Ammonia Could Decarbonize 60% of Global Shipping When Offered at Just 10 Regional Fuel Ports

Jan. 9, 2024 — A study has found that green ammonia could be used to fulfill the fuel demands of over 60% of global shipping by targeting just the top 10 regional fuel ports. Researchers looked at the production ...

Better Microelectronics from Coal

Jan. 3, 2024 — Coal is an abundant resource in the United States that has, unfortunately, contributed to climate change through its use as a fossil fuel. As the country transitions to other means of energy ...

New Material Allows for Better Hydrogen-Based Batteries and Fuel Cells

Dec. 22, 2023 — Researchers have developed a solid electrolyte for transporting hydride ions at room temperature. This breakthrough means that the full advantages of hydrogen-based solid-state batteries and fuel ...

Hydrogen Fuel Can Be a Competitive Alternative to Gasoline and Diesel Today

Nov. 16, 2023 — Energy researchers posit hydrogen fuel can potentially be a cost-competitive and environmentally friendly alternative to gasoline and diesel, and that supplying hydrogen for transportation in the ...

Ammonia Fuel Offers Great Benefits but Demands Careful Action

Nov. 13, 2023 — Researchers have identified the potential environmental risks of using ammonia as a zero-carbon fuel in order to develop an engineering roadmap to a sustainable ammonia ...

Solar-Powered Device Produces Clean Water and Clean Fuel at the Same Time

Nov. 13, 2023 — A floating, solar-powered device that can turn contaminated water or seawater into clean hydrogen fuel and purified water, anywhere in the world, has been developed by ...

Decarbonizing Light-Duty Transportation in the United States: Study Reveals Strategies to Achieve Goal

Nov. 6, 2023 — Researchers found that meeting greenhouse gas emissions goals for light-duty vehicles, which are passenger vehicles such as cars and trucks, is possible, but not just by increasing electric vehicle ...

Efficient Biohybrid Batteries

Oct. 31, 2023 — Formic acid, which can be produced electrochemically from carbon dioxide, is a promising energy carrier. A research team has now developed a fast-charging hybrid battery system that combines the ...

Engineers Develop an Efficient Process to Make Fuel from Carbon Dioxide

Oct. 30, 2023 — Researchers developed an efficient process that can convert carbon dioxide into formate, a nonflammable liquid or solid material that can be used like hydrogen or methanol to power a fuel cell and ...

3D Printed Reactor Core Makes Solar Fuel Production More Efficient

Oct. 27, 2023 — Using a new 3D printing technique, researchers have developed special ceramic structures for a solar reactor. Initial experimental testing show that these structures can boost the production yield of ...