News tagged with natural oils

Professors argue flattening oil production should trump environment as reason to move to alternative sources

(PhysOrg.com) -- Two university professors, one from the School of Oceanography at the University of Washington in Seattle, the other from Oxford, have published an opinion piece in the journal Nature, where ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Jan 26, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (25) | comments 41 | with audio podcast report

Crude oil no longer needed for plastics

Each year the world produces about 130 million kilo of ethene, the most important raw material for plastics. This gigantic industry is currently dependent on crude oil. And that is running out. Dutch researcher Tymen Tiemersma ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Mar 30, 2010 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (20) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Sugar battles oil spills

The environment has often suffered from the catastrophic effects of an oil spill, the most recent example being the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The search for ways to remove oil from polluted water is ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Aug 12, 2010 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (17) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

End to cheap coal closer than we thought?

(PhysOrg.com) -- A report entitled "The End of Cheap Coal," published in the journal Nature by Richard Heinberg and David Fridley, suggests we may reach peak coal in the next two decades.

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Nov 22, 2010 | popularity 4 / 5 (16) | comments 33 | with audio podcast report

One Sponge-Like Material, Three Different Applications

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new sponge-like material that is black, brittle and freeze-dried (just like the ice cream astronauts eat) can pull off some pretty impressive feats. Designed by Northwestern University chemists, it can ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created May 26, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (9) | comments 3

Natural gas as answer to oil decline could lead to catastrophe, says leading expert

Ploughing resources into the use of natural gas as an alternative energy supply could lead to global shortage within 20 years time, according to a leading energy expert.

Technology / Energy & Green Tech

created Mar 05, 2009 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (9) | comments 7

New graphene discovery boosts oil exploration efforts, could enable self-powered microsensors

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a new method to harvest energy from flowing water. This discovery aims to hasten the creation of self-powered microsensors for ...

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Jul 19, 2011 | popularity 3.9 / 5 (8) | comments 8 | with audio podcast

Greenhouse solar plant for cheaper extraction of oil

(PhysOrg.com) -- A Californian company has found a way to reduce the cost of making steam for use in extracting oil from old oil fields: they heat the water using free sunlight.

Technology / Energy & Green Tech

created Mar 02, 2011 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (6) | comments 6 | with audio podcast report

Natural Oils Can Be Hydrogenated Without Making Unhealthy Trans Fats

(PhysOrg.com) -- To prolong the shelf life of foods, manufacturers often add hydrogen to natural oils, a process called hydrogenation. But hydrogenation also results in the production of trans fats, which have adverse health ...

Chemistry /

created Jan 23, 2009 | popularity 3.4 / 5 (7) | comments 0

EPA targets air pollution from gas drilling boom

(AP) -- Faced with a natural gas drilling boom that has sullied the air in some parts of the country, the Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday proposed for the first time to control air pollution at oil and gas wells, ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Jul 29, 2011 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (5) | comments 1

Carbon payments payments could protect orangutans, pygmy elephants in Borneo

A new report published today provides compelling evidence that paying to conserve billions of tons of carbon stored in tropical forests could also protect orangutans, pygmy elephants, and other wildlife at risk of extinction. ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Jun 04, 2009 | popularity 2.4 / 5 (8) | comments 8

Study sharpens picture of how much oil and gas flowed in Deepwater Horizon spill

(PhysOrg.com) -- In a detailed assessment of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, researchers led by a team from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have determined that the blown-out Macondo well ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Sep 05, 2011 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (4) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

Amid US gas boom, split over environment risks

The United States is seeing a natural gas boom thanks to discoveries of abundant shale gas, and at the same time a groundswell of opposition from critics who say the environmental risks from drilling are too ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Jun 26, 2011 | popularity 4 / 5 (4) | comments 228

Making manufacturing ultrapure hydrogen gas easier than ever

Pure hydrogen (H2) is an important chemical widely used in the chemical industry, many semiconductor fabrication processes, as well as in Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) fuel cells. Almost all of the hydrogen ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Sep 29, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0

As air pollution from fracking rises, EPA to set rules

The rush to capture natural gas from hydraulic fracturing has led to giant compressor stations alongside backyard swing sets, drilling rigs in sight of front porches, and huge flares at gas wells alongside country roads.

Space & Earth / Environment

created Apr 17, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0