Tag Archives: fossil fuels

All-natural nano-sponge absorbs CO2

A new method of developing metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) has made them completely environmentally friendly. They are not only capable of detecting, capturing and storing CO2, but are largely made of it as well. They are in fact so green that … Continue reading →

Biomaterials should be more important than biofuels

When talking about a biobased economy, most people think biofuel. And who can blame them, since gasoline alone is good for about half of global petroleum use? A transition from petroleum to biomass as a source for fuel would put … Continue reading →

Today’s paradox: coal is not worse for climate than natural gas

It´s basic chemistry: coal is mainly carbon, if you burn it you get lots of CO2. Natural gas is mostly methane, and that’s a different story. With methane just ’20 percent of the burned atoms’ are carbon, the rest is … Continue reading →

Recycled paper waste could be used to fuel cars

It seems a bit far-fetched, producing fuel out of paper waste with the help of bacteria found in animal droppings. But it is exactly what Tulane University scientists in New Orleans have done. They managed to use a novel bacterial … Continue reading →

High mercury levels in soil near coal-fired power plants

We have known for some time that coal-fired power plants emit heavy metals into the air, among which is mercury. Most of these highly toxic particles end up in waterways, through which they sometimes spread as far as to other … Continue reading →

Saudi proven oil reserves no longer world’s largest – Latin American proven reserves grow 400 percent in 4 years

According to a release by Latin American Energy Organisation OLADE last Thursday Venezuela has toppled Saudi Arabia as the country with the largest proven oil reserves. New discoveries have raised the proven reserves of Venezuela from 98 billion barrels of … Continue reading →

Just 565 Gt CO2 to go till 2050 under 450 Scenario – 80% proven fossil fuel reserves should remain untouched

In order to limit global warming to an average of no more than 2 degrees Celsius, the official UN climate target, the equivalent of 2230 gigatonnes CO2 of proven fossil fuel reserves should remain in the ground, a report published … Continue reading →

Shutting down 20GW nuclear translates to 11GW extra coal

And 5GW of newly built gas power plants, which also emit more CO2 than [practically zero carbon] nuclear power plants. This is just the German case. Meanwhile also Switzerland has announced it will phase out its entire nuclear capacity and … Continue reading →

2010 brought CO2 record – 450 Scenario does not allow any further growth

We really thought we had all the climate records for 2010 neatly piled, but had all forgotten about this one. Deforestation and other land use changes excluded, simply burning fossil fuels in 2010 we emitted 30,600,000,000 tonnes of CO2. That’s … Continue reading →