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News tagged with petroleum

Petroleum volume: Getting calibrations in the can

(Phys.org) -- The volume of oil and oil products moving through America’s pipelines, waterways, roads, and rails borders on the unimaginable.

Technology / Engineering

created May 07, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

NREL catalyst brings drop-in fuels closer

We live in a petroleum-based society, and the oil we use comes from plants that were buried eons ago and changed under pressure and high temperatures. As countries across the globe face dwindling oil supplies ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Apr 12, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

Cheap natural gas makes inroads as US vehicle fuel

Natural gas, whose price is at record lows thanks to a shale drilling boom, is gaining traction as an alternative energy in the United States, with automakers jumping on the bandwagon.

Technology / Energy & Green Tech

created Mar 28, 2012 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 6

Study reveals unprecedented impact of Deepwater Horizon on deep ocean

Scientists report they have "compelling evidence" that the Deepwater Horizon oil spill has impacted deep-sea corals. Their study, published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences utiliz ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Mar 26, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (11) | comments 6 | with audio podcast

Technip wins North Sea underwater contract

French oil services group Technip announced Monday it had secured a contract worth about 600 million euros ($795 million) to refurbish and develop oil installations in the North Sea.

Space & Earth / Environment

created Mar 26, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Study shows air emissions near fracking sites may impact health

In a new study, researchers from the Colorado School of Public Health have shown that air pollution caused by hydraulic fracturing or fracking may contribute to acute and chronic health problems for those living near natural ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Mar 19, 2012 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (5) | comments 0

Does power cloud one's ability to make good decisions?

Grave consequences can result from bad decisions made by people in leadership positions. Case in point: the 2009 Gulf of Mexico oil rig disaster. British Petroleum (BP) executives had downplayed potential risks associated ...

Other Sciences / Economics & Business

created Mar 01, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Deepwater Horizon disaster could have billion dollar impact: new study

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010 will have a large economic impact on the U.S. Gulf fisheries.

Space & Earth / Environment

created Feb 17, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Research team develops better iron catalyst to help turn plant material into plastic

(PhysOrg.com) -- As most people know, modern plastics are made from crude oil derivatives, making them vulnerable to price and supply fluctuations, which in the end means an alternative must be found in order for the plastics ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Feb 17, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (6) | comments 0 | with audio podcast report

The great gas hydrate escape

For some time, researchers have explored flammable ice for low-carbon or alternative fuel or as a place to store carbon dioxide. Now, a computer analysis of the ice and gas compound, known as a gas hydrate, ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Jan 18, 2012 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (7) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

A new genre of tires: Call 'em 'sweet' and 'green'

Motorists may be driving on the world's first "green" tires within the next few years, as partnerships between tire companies and biotechnology firms make it possible to produce key raw materials for tires from sugar rather ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Dec 14, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 1

Building a sustainable hydrogen economy

The concept of the hydrogen economy (HE), in which hydrogen would replace the carbon-based fossil fuels of the twentieth century was first mooted in the 1970s. Today, HE is seen as a potential solution to the dual global ...

Technology / Energy & Green Tech

created Dec 08, 2011 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (3) | comments 18

Petroleum-eating mushrooms

Take a Petri dish containing crude petroleum and it will release a strong odor distinctive of the toxins that make up the fossil fuel. Sprinkle mushroom spores over the Petri dish and let it sit for two weeks ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Nov 30, 2011 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (5) | comments 2

Good preparation is key -- even for plant cells and symbiotic fungi

Not only mineral oil and petroleum gas, also phosphorous is a scarce resource. According to well-respected scientists who gathered together for a conference in Cambridge this August, we will face significant problems relating ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Nov 14, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Plastic fantastic – the future of biodegradables

Poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) is a thermoplastic polyester which occurs naturally in bacteria as Ralstonia eutropha and Bacillus megaterium. Even though PHB is biodegradable and is not dependent on fossil resources, this bioplast ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Oct 17, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Petroleum

Petroleum (L. petroleum, from Greek: petra (rock) + Latin: oleum (oil)) or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling. This latter stage comes after the studies of structural geology (at the reservoir scale), sedimentary basin analysis, reservoir characterization (mainly in terms of porosity and permeable structures). It is refined and separated, most easily by boiling point, into a large number of consumer products, from petrol and kerosene to asphalt and chemical reagents used to make plastics and pharmaceuticals. Petroleum is used in manufacturing a wide variety of materials.

For more information about Petroleum, read the full article at Wikipedia.
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