Chemists call it "thermal runaway, " an ever-increasing heating process that can cause the battery to ignite.

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This made the heating process more efficient, so water, for instance, boiled more quickly thus saving energy.

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Most recycled cooking oil today is used to power diesel trucks or mixed with home heating fuel, a simpler conversion process.

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Dr Cooper and Julien Reboud, also from the University of Glasgow, have now developed a way to carry out the entire PCR process mixing, heating and cooling, as well as analysis using a single piezoelectric source, without the need for separate heating elements or detection equipment.

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Current HVAC systems get rid of stale, germ-ridden indoor air by cooling or heating fresh outdoor air and blowing it through ventilation ducts, a process that gobbles electricity.

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Refiners churn out the same end products (gasoline, heating oil, distillates, etc.) using either feedstock, but not all refiners have the equipment to process heavy sour crude.

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