All articles tagged with #gas storage
Scientists Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson, and Omar Yaghi won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing porous materials called metal-organic frameworks that can store large amounts of gas in tiny volumes, with applications in climate change mitigation and water harvesting, likened to Hermione's handbag in Harry Potter.
Russia launched missile strikes on a Ukrainian gas storage site and power facilities, causing significant damage and prompting Ukraine to increase power imports and impose rolling blackouts. The attacks resulted in power outages in several regions, with the greatest difficulties in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city. Ukraine's energy ministry reported that the recent strikes caused a loss of 50% of the capacity of the top energy producer, DTEK. Despite the attacks, Ukraine's state-run Naftogaz assured that gas supplies to consumers were not affected, and efforts to restore power supplies were underway.
Russia targeted an underground gas storage facility in western Ukraine during a missile and drone attack, damaging equipment on the ground but not the storage itself, highlighting the threat to Ukraine's energy system posed by the ongoing war.
California's Public Utilities Commission has voted to allow Southern California Gas Co. to store more fuel at the Aliso Canyon gas storage field, despite opposition from residents and climate change activists. The decision comes eight years after a massive methane leak at the facility prompted evacuations and concerns about health risks. State officials argue that increasing storage capacity will help lower gas and electricity costs for residents this winter. However, critics argue that the decision goes against the state's goal of transitioning away from fossil fuels and poses a continued threat to public health and the environment.
The European Union (EU) has achieved its gas storage target ahead of the November deadline, ensuring energy security for the region. This achievement is significant as it helps to mitigate potential supply disruptions during the winter months.
MIT researchers have developed a computational approach to predict the stability of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), which have a rigid, cage-like structure that makes them useful for applications such as gas storage and drug delivery. Using their model, the researchers identified about 10,000 possible MOF structures that they classify as “ultrastable,” making them good candidates for applications such as converting methane gas to methanol. The researchers also identified certain building blocks that tend to produce more stable materials, and have made their database of ultrastable materials available for researchers interested in testing them for their own scientific applications.