Fossil Fuels News

September 23, 2026

Top Headlines

A New Process Turns Plastic Waste Into Gasoline and Diesel Fuel

Sep. 21, 2026 Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a surprisingly simple way to turn polyethylene, the common plastic used in shopping bags and cutting boards, into gasoline and diesel-like fuels. The process uses inexpensive aluminum-based ...

Billions in Rare Earth Elements May Be Hiding in America’s Coal Ash

Sep. 18, 2026 Scientists are looking to diatoms, sea sponges, and plants for a cleaner way to recover rare earth elements and other valuable minerals hidden inside coal ash, red mud, and mine tailings. The bio-inspired approach could turn massive industrial waste ...

Scientists Turn Seawater Into Fresh Water Without Harmful Brine

Sep. 16, 2026 Scientists have developed a solar-powered desalination system that turns seawater into fresh water while removing nearly all of the leftover salt as a solid instead of producing harmful brine. The self-cleaning technology could also recover valuable ...

Australia’s Red Soil May Be Hiding a Massive Clean Energy Source

Aug. 29, 2026 Researchers have discovered that Western Australia’s iron-rich rocks can naturally generate hydrogen and that the process may be boosted to produce much larger amounts. If it can be scaled up, the vast formations beneath the Pilbara could become a ...

Atomic Catalyst Unlocks the Hidden Value of Plant Waste

Aug. 25, 2026 Scientists have created a highly efficient catalyst that breaks down stubborn lignin from plant waste into useful chemicals under relatively mild conditions. By revealing exactly how the catalyst works at the atomic level, the discovery could help ...

New Fuel Cell Breakthrough Could Help Power Energy-hungry Data Centers

Aug. 8, 2026 A new nanostructured carbon design lets fuel-cell catalysts use tiny amounts of platinum while remaining remarkably stable and efficient. The breakthrough could help hydrogen fuel cells become a more practical way to power data centers, vehicles, ...

This Hydrogen Turbine Turns Controlled Explosions Into Electricity

Aug. 4, 2026 Scientists have successfully generated electricity with a hydrogen turbine that produces its own pressure through detonation waves instead of relying on a mechanical compressor. The breakthrough could unlock dramatically more efficient power systems ...

This New Alloy Is Up to 10 Times Stronger Than Steel and Surprisingly Flexible

July 30, 2026 Engineers have transformed a notoriously brittle cobalt-aluminum compound into a material that is both extremely strong and capable of bending without breaking. Their nanoscale design produced a ...

Simple Water Trick Slashes Diesel Engine Pollution by over 60%

July 1, 2026 A surprisingly simple fuel modification could help tackle one of diesel engines’ biggest problems: pollution. Researchers reviewing studies from around the world found that mixing small amounts of water into diesel fuel can dramatically reduce ...

MIT’s New Spacecraft Engine Could Send Tiny Satellites to Mars

June 10, 2026 MIT researchers have shown that one fuel can power both chemical and electric spacecraft thrusters, potentially transforming what small satellites can do. The approach combines quick bursts of speed with highly efficient long-range propulsion in a ...

New Hydrogen Breakthrough Turns Waste Heat Into Clean Fuel

June 2, 2026 A breakthrough hydrogen-production method could make clean fuel far cheaper and easier to generate. Researchers at the University of Birmingham developed a perovskite-based catalyst that splits water into hydrogen at much lower temperatures than ...

Scientists Discover Massive Natural Hydrogen Source Beneath Canada

May 20, 2026 Scientists in Canada have discovered that ancient underground rocks are naturally producing hydrogen gas — and lots of it. Measurements from mine boreholes in Ontario show the gas can flow continuously for years, offering a potential new source of ...

Latest Headlines

updated 12:48am EDT

Black Holes of Every Size Follow the Same Surprising Rule

Sep. 21, 2026 Scientists have found evidence that black holes of vastly different sizes may launch powerful jets according to the same universal rule. Supermassive black holes can produce jets soon after tearing ...

NASA’s James Webb Catches a Supermassive Black Hole Feeding

July 17, 2026 JWST has captured unusually detailed images of gas feeding the supermassive black hole at the center of NGC 4696. A vast filament appears to funnel material into an 800-light-year-wide spinning disk, ...

This Town Found Clean Energy Deep Inside Old Coal Mines

May 6, 2026 Cumberland, B.C. is reimagining its coal mining past as a clean energy opportunity. Water trapped in abandoned mine tunnels could be used in a geothermal system to heat and cool buildings efficiently ...

Scientists Turn Plastic Waste Into Clean Hydrogen Fuel Using Sunlight

May 4, 2026 Scientists are using sunlight to turn plastic waste into clean fuels like hydrogen, offering a breakthrough solution to both pollution and energy challenges. While still in development, the approach ...

This New Chip Could Slash Data Center Energy Waste

Apr. 10, 2026 A new chip design from UC San Diego could make data centers far more energy-efficient by rethinking how power is converted for GPUs. By combining vibrating piezoelectric components with a clever ...

Scientists Turn CO2 Into Fuel Using Breakthrough Single-Atom Catalyst

Mar. 20, 2026 Researchers have created a cutting-edge catalyst that turns CO2 into methanol more efficiently than ever before. Instead of using clumps of metal atoms, they engineered a system where each single ...

A Lab Mistake at Cambridge Reveals a Powerful New Way to Modify Drug Molecules

Mar. 14, 2026 Cambridge scientists have discovered a light-powered chemical reaction that lets researchers modify complex drug molecules at the final stages of ...

Simple Water Trick Cuts Diesel Engine Pollution by Over 60%

Mar. 13, 2026 Scientists are exploring a surprisingly simple way to clean up diesel engines: adding tiny droplets of water to the fuel. During combustion, the water rapidly vaporizes, triggering micro-explosions ...

This Ultra-Thin Surface Controls Light in Two Completely Different Ways

Feb. 5, 2026 A new metasurface design lets light of different spins bend, focus, and behave independently—while staying sharp across many colors. The trick combines two geometric phase effects so each spin ...

A Breakthrough That Turns Exhaust CO2 Into Useful Materials

Jan. 29, 2026 Scientists have created a device that captures carbon dioxide and transforms it into a useful chemical in a single step. The new electrode works with realistic exhaust gases rather than requiring ...

Researchers Catch Atoms Standing Still Inside Molten Metal

Dec. 11, 2025 Scientists have uncovered that some atoms in liquids don't move at all—even at extreme temperatures—and these anchored atoms dramatically alter the way materials freeze. Using advanced ...

A Missing Flash of Light Revealed a Molecular Secret

Jan. 5, 2026 Scientists have found a way to see ultrafast molecular interactions inside liquids using an extreme laser technique once thought impossible for fluids. When they mixed nearly identical chemicals, one ...

Nearly 47 Million Americans Live Near Hidden Fossil Fuel Sites

Nov. 20, 2025 A nationwide analysis has uncovered how sprawling fossil fuel infrastructure sits surprisingly close to millions of American homes. The research shows that 46.6 million people live within about a ...

Physicists Reveal a New Quantum State Where Electrons Run Wild

Nov. 16, 2025 Electrons can freeze into strange geometric crystals and then melt back into liquid-like motion under the right quantum conditions. Researchers identified how to tune these transitions and even ...

Turning CO2 Into Clean Fuel Faster and Cheaper

Nov. 5, 2025 A new copper-magnesium-iron catalyst transforms CO2 into CO at low temperatures with record-breaking efficiency and stability. The discovery paves the way for affordable, scalable production of ...

This Artificial Leaf Turns Pollution Into Power

Nov. 2, 2025 Cambridge researchers have engineered a solar-powered “artificial leaf” that mimics photosynthesis to make valuable chemicals sustainably. Their biohybrid device combines organic semiconductors ...

Lighting the Way for Electric Vehicles by Using Streetlamps as Chargers

Oct. 5, 2025 A Penn State research team found that streetlights could double as affordable EV charging stations. After installing 23 units in Kansas City, they discovered these chargers were faster, cheaper, and ...

Toxic Waste Could Become the Next Clean Energy Breakthrough

Sep. 26, 2025 Bio-tar, once seen as a toxic waste, can be transformed into bio-carbon with applications in clean energy and environmental protection. This innovation could reduce emissions, create profits, and ...

This Ultra-Thin Solar Tech Could Power Everything from Phones to Skyscrapers

Oct. 1, 2025 A team in Sweden has unraveled the hidden structure of a promising solar material using machine learning and advanced simulations. Their findings could unlock durable, ultra-efficient solar cells for ...

Scientists Found a New Way to Turn Sunlight Into Fuel

Aug. 26, 2025 A research team created a plant-inspired molecule that can store four charges using sunlight, a key step toward artificial photosynthesis. Unlike past attempts, it works with dimmer light, edging ...

Critical Minerals Are Hiding in Plain Sight in U.S. Mines

Dec. 28, 2025 Researchers found that U.S. metal mines already contain large amounts of critical minerals that are mostly going unused. Recovering even a small fraction of these byproducts could sharply reduce ...

America Is Throwing Away the Minerals That Could Power Its Future

Sep. 17, 2025 America already mines all the critical minerals it needs for energy, defense, and technology, but most are being wasted as mine tailings. Researchers discovered that minerals like cobalt, germanium, ...

New Low Temperature Fuel Cell Could Transform Hydrogen Power

Dec. 5, 2025 Kyushu University scientists have achieved a major leap in fuel cell technology by enabling efficient proton transport at just 300°C. Their scandium-doped oxide materials create a wide, soft pathway ...

AI Cracks a Meteorite’s Secret: A Material That Defies Heat

Aug. 3, 2025 A rare mineral from a 1724 meteorite defies the rules of heat flow, acting like both a crystal and a glass. Thanks to AI and quantum physics, researchers uncovered its bizarre ability to maintain ...

Scientists Unveil Bioplastic That Degrades at Room Temperature, and Outperforms Petroplastics

Aug. 3, 2025 Plastic pollution is a mounting global issue, but scientists at Washington University in St. Louis have taken a bold step forward by creating a new bioplastic inspired by the structure of leaves. ...

The Real-Life Kryptonite Found in Serbia—and Why It Could Power the Future

July 27, 2025 Deep in Serbia's Jadar Valley, scientists discovered a mineral with an uncanny resemblance to Superman's Kryptonite both in composition and name. Dubbed jadarite, this dull white crystal ...

Decades of Chemistry Rewritten: A Textbook Reaction Just Flipped

July 28, 2025 Penn State researchers have uncovered a surprising twist in a foundational chemical reaction known as oxidative addition. Typically believed to involve transition metals donating electrons to organic ...

Accidental Lab Discovery Reveals Gold’s Secret Chemistry

Aug. 11, 2025 Scientists at SLAC unexpectedly created gold hydride, a compound of gold and hydrogen, while studying diamond formation under extreme pressure and heat. This discovery challenges gold’s reputation ...

Breakthrough Battery Lets Physicists Reverse Entanglement—and Rewrite Quantum Law

July 7, 2025 Scientists have finally uncovered a quantum counterpart to Carnot’s famed second law, showing that entanglement—once thought stubbornly irreversible—can be shuffled back and forth without loss ...

A Shocking New Way to Make Ammonia, No Fossil Fuels Needed

July 5, 2025 Australian scientists have discovered a method to produce ammonia—an essential component in fertilizers—using only air and electricity. By mimicking lightning and channeling that energy through a ...