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PNNL study finds algal oil could replace 17% of US petroleum oil imports

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A new Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) study shows finds that oil from algae grown in outdoor raceway ponds located in the Gulf Coast, the Southeastern Seaboard and the Great Lakes could replace 17% of the United States’ imported oil for transportation. The paper is published in the journal Water Resources Research.

Oil 281
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New study finds GHG emissions from palm oil production significantly underestimated; palm oil biofuels could be more climate-damaging than oil sands fuels

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Based on visual interpretation of high-resolution (30 m) satellite images, a new study in the journal Global Change Biology: Bioenergy determined that industrial plantations covered over 3.1 When peat swamps are drained for agriculture, the peat begins to decompose, and is an enormous source of carbon emissions. —Miettinen et al.

Oil-Sands 314
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Univ. of Calgary team developing nanocatalysts for underground upgrading of heavy oil and bitumen; possible “next generation” of oil sands production

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Researchers at the University of Calgary are developing ultra-dispersed (UD) nanocatalysts for the in situ upgrading of heavy oil and bitumen from deep reservoirs. One of the challenges of such an approach is the placement of the catalyst deep into the heavy oil plume by transporting a catalyst suspension through the sand medium.

Oil-Sands 358
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Researchers review risk to water resources from unconventional shale gas development in US

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They identified four potential modes of water resource degradation: (1) shallow aquifers contaminated by fugitive natural gas (i.e., They identified four potential modes of water resource degradation: (1) shallow aquifers contaminated by fugitive natural gas (i.e., Credit: ACS, Vengosh et al. Click to enlarge.

Water 306
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BP awards Colorado State University $5M to research technology for oil recovery from watered-out wells

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Colorado State University has obtained a 5-year, $5-million grant from BP to study mechanisms involved with technology for oil recovery from “watered-out” wells. Upward of 70% of the petroleum can remain in the rock formations of many watered-out wells. 2000) Water Control. Bill Bailey et al.

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PNNL study uncovers role of water in forming impurity in bio-oil upgrading; insight into fundamentals of biofuel catalysis

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In working to elucidate the chemistry of hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) for the catalytic upgrading of pyrolytic bio-oil to fuel-grade products, researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have discovered that water in the conversion process helps form an impurity which, in turn, slows down key chemical reactions.

Water 210
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Researcher urges more effort on assessment of land and water impacts of oil sands production; reference point for other unconventional fuels

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Bitumen production from the Canadian oil sands provides a point of reference that could be used to observe and better manage the land and water impacts of a rapid transition to unconventional fuels, suggests Dr. Sarah Jordaan of the Energy Technology Innovation Policy Research Group, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University.

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