All articles tagged with #gas storage
Europe faces high gas prices and the lowest gas reserves in over a decade, making a mild winter crucial to avert an energy crunch; Italy’s storage is near target while Germany’s remains well below, and weather, LNG flows, and geopolitical risks could still push prices higher and influence inflation and ECB policy.
Researchers revived a centuries-old glassmaking idea to tune metal–organic framework (MOF) glasses by adding small alkali-containing compounds (sodium or lithium). These additives loosen the glass network, lower the softening temperature, and improve flow, making MOF glasses easier to melt and reform. The team used high-temperature solid-state NMR and AI-driven modeling to show how sodium integrates into the glass, potentially expanding MOF glasses’ use in gas separation, storage, catalysis, and coatings, moving them closer to real-world manufacturing.
Extreme winter weather has sent U.S. natural gas futures soaring—about a 70% weekly jump and the largest move since 1990, with prices at their highest since 2022—driven by surging heating demand, dwindling storage, and potential pipeline disruptions. A surge in LNG exports abroad is tightening domestic supply, while later-dated futures are less affected. Analysts warn volatility could persist as the weather holds, even as White House officials highlight high domestic gas output as a relief to energy affordability.
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.