All posts tagged: Oil

Catalytic process converts mixed plastic waste into oil suitable for reuse

Catalytic process converts mixed plastic waste into oil suitable for reuse

Published by skeptic

Researchers at the University of Amsterdam(UvA) have developed a new process for recycling mixed plastic waste into oil, via Solvothermal Liquefaction (STL). Developed within the European PLASTICE project under the leadership of Associate Professor Dr Shiju Raveendran at UvA’s Van ‘t Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences, the Catalysis Engineering Group have designed a pilot plant to demonstrate recycling of mixed plastic waste using solvent, heat, catalysts and elevated pressure. This produces a dark brown oil that contains molecules that can be used to create new, virgin plastics and close the recycling loop on mixed plastics. The pilot plant will be tested in Spain, processing municipal plastic waste. Mixed plastic waste requires extensive sorting before recycling and a large proportion of materials end up in landfill or incinerators as a result. But the process of Solvothermal Liquefaction (STL) could help reduce the complexity and hurdles of this process, as STL can can break down multiple types of plastic simultaneously. The team will now scale up the experiment to industrial volumes Laboratory experiments found that after 30 …

Oil drops, stocks mostly higher despite AI concerns

Oil drops, stocks mostly higher despite AI concerns

Published by Sam Flores

US JOBS BOOST Looking ahead, markets are awaiting government figures on US employment due on Friday morning for a gauge on the health of the economy. A separate report this week showed that despite rising energy prices, companies in the world’s biggest economy in May added the most jobs since the start of 2025. The dollar fell against main rivals after recent gains thanks to its safe-haven status and expectations that the Federal Reserve could raise US interest rates to combat higher inflation. Bitcoin flirted with its lowest levels since October 2024, just before the election of Donald Trump, which helped propel the world’s leading cryptocurrency to record highs. Bitcoin “has suddenly started looking less attractive” compared to AI stocks that have soared in recent months, said Swissquote analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya. “They have delivered higher returns than Bitcoin while benefiting from actual earnings growth that justifies at least part of their price gains, also explaining the deteriorating interest in harder-to-price cryptocurrencies,” she said. Bitcoin fell under US$64,000 in Thursday trading. It has not fallen under …

Ukrainian MP Savages Labour Government's Decision To Ease Russian Oil Sanctions

Ukrainian MP Savages Labour Government's Decision To Ease Russian Oil Sanctions

Published by Sam Flores

A rescue worker puts out a fire of a building damaged after a Russian strike on Chernihiv region, Ukraine.  A Ukrainian MP has savaged the UK government’s decision to ease sanctions on oil produced in Russia. Ministers triggered an angry backlash last month after announcing they would allow the import of Russian jet fuel and diesel which has been refined in other countries amid concerns about potential shortages caused by the war in Iran. The move appeared to fly in the face of a previous government pledge to block Russian oil refined in other countries in order to “further restrict the flow of funds to the Kremlin”. The government insisted it was only a temporary measure while tougher sanctions are phased in. But on Sky News this morning, Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Goncharenko hit out at the move, which he said was “a big moral and strategic mistake” which will boost Russia and ensure the war lasts longer. He said: “The United Kingdom, from the very beginning, was one of our biggest supporters, and the United …

France arrests Russian captain of Moscow-linked oil tanker

France arrests Russian captain of Moscow-linked oil tanker

Published by Sam Flores

French authorities have taken into custody the Russian captain of a seized oil tanker believed to be part of Moscow’s shadow fleet, a prosecutor said on Wednesday. The French navy detained the Tagor on Sunday in international waters with the help of Britain on suspicion the ship was flying a false flag after its captain refused to comply with orders. The captain was arrested on Tuesday and faces up to one year in prison and a 150,000-euro ($174,000) fine, said the prosecutor in the northwestern city of Brest, Stéphane Kellenberger. The shipowner, currently being identified, may be subject to the same penalties, he added. Read moreFrance backed by Britain intercepts sanctioned oil tanker sailing from Russia The Tagor is suspected of carrying Russian or Iranian oil despite international sanctions, and is linked to petroleum shipping magnate Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, according to open-source database Opensanctions.org. Shamkhani is the son of security official Ali Shamkhani, who was an adviser to the former Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei, both of whom were killed on February 28, the first …

Interior Dept.’s B bribe to a foreign oil company gets challenged in court

Interior Dept.’s $1B bribe to a foreign oil company gets challenged in court

Published by skeptic

New York state has announced a lawsuit against the Interior Department’s illegal $1 billion payment to an oil company to stop development of a wind farm off the New York Coast. The project would have saved New Yorkers $10 billion and created 1,700 jobs, which would have conflicted with the Department of the Interior’s goals of raising your energy costs. Wind is one of the cheaper forms of energy we have available to us, and also has the benefit of not causing pollution. Pollution from fossil fuels harms human health, causing millions of deaths and childhood asthma cases and costing trillions of dollars per year globally. Offshore wind is a little more expensive than onshore wind, but has the benefit of having zero land use and more consistent winds. This is especially true in the North Atlantic, where wind resources are plentiful. Advertisement – scroll for more content However, the Department of the Interior, the government agency responsible for usage of public lands, including oceans, is currently occupied by Doug Burgum, a fossil fuel advocate …

Europe’s race to secure its energy supplies — live updates – POLITICO

Europe’s race to secure its energy supplies — live updates – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

The fallout from the U.S.-Israel war in Iran is already rippling through global markets. But the worst may still lie ahead for Europe. As oil and gas supplies tighten and prices spike, the shock is seeping into every corner of the economy, from manufacturing to borrowing costs to demand shifts. Against this gloomy backdrop, how can policymakers contain the damage to avoid a deeper economic impact? And beyond the short term, what will this energy shock mean for Europe’s households and its industrial competitiveness? The crisis is also accelerating another shift: Europe’s clean transition. It’s no longer seen predominately as a climate imperative, but a question of economic security. Which policy moves will help safeguard the bloc’s sovereignty while reducing its emissions? Follow all the discussions and news from POLITICO’s Energy & Climate Forum as we unpack these hot-button issues with the policymakers, industry leaders and policy experts shaping Europe’s response. See the full program here and follow along here from 9 a.m. Source link

Ukraine strikes Russian oil pumping station 800 miles behind front lines

Ukraine strikes Russian oil pumping station 800 miles behind front lines

Published by Sam Flores

Credit: X/Volodymyr Zelenskyy Ukrainian drones struck a Russian fuel depot, oil pumping station and a refinery in an escalating campaign of strikes against energy infrastructure often hundreds of miles inside Russia. Kyiv said on Sunday it had struck the Lazarevo pumping station in the Kirov region, north-east of Moscow and about 800 miles ⁠from Ukrainian-held territory. Alexander Sokolov, the regional governor, admitted that drones had hit a “facility” and caused a fire. He claimed there had been no casualties as he called for calm. The station pumps oil from Siberia to Belarus. Ukraine’s ‌General Staff also said it had hit the Saratov oil refinery on the Volga River, causing a large fire during overnight strikes. “During the night, our soldiers applied Ukraine’s long-range sanctions against an oil refinery in Saratov, Russia. This is about 700km (430 miles) from the front line,” Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, said. Roman Busargin, the Saratov regional governor, ​said on Telegram that “civil infrastructure” had been damaged in the strike, but gave no more details. In the town of Matveyev-Kurgan …

Green Retreat: California Eases Carbon-Market Costs For Oil Refiners

Green Retreat: California Eases Carbon-Market Costs For Oil Refiners

Published by Jenni Sidey

California’s green-energy regime has hollowed out the state’s refining and oil industry, leaving motorists paying the highest gasoline prices in the country. AAA data show the state gasoline average now north of $6 per gallon, compared with a national average of roughly $4.36 as of Saturday morning. The result of political blowback in California over unaffordable gasoline and diesel prices at the pump is a retreat from left-wing climate policies that could offer relief to motorists, Bloomberg News reports. On Friday, the California Air Resources Board voted to create up to $4 billion in free carbon allowances for oil refiners and other industrial polluters. This will help them more easily comply with the state’s greenhouse gas limits under the Cap-and-Invest program. Earlier this year, CARB proposed further tightening emission limits by removing 118 million allowances from the market to keep the state on track to meet its 2030 climate targets. For refiners, that would mean further reducing emissions or paying more for allowances, with mounting costs already pushing them out of the state.  The move …