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TS 16640, which includes vegetable and animal sources, because the methods can´t distinguish between these sources as they are part of the short carbon cycle.
One aspect of this holistic approach involves considering the renewability of lubricant components. Additionally, efforts to derive oil from renewable sources such as vegetables, animal sources, waste plastics, captured CO2
friction reduction as a pivotal factor in building future intangible, monetary assets, reinforcing the sustainability attribute of lubricants.
and green hydrogen (power-to-
liquid) or sugar, algae and lignin have gained traction, representing a return to lubricants used before the discovery of petroleum crude. As renewable resources, these materials show promise for the future of sustainability, when a low or negative carbon footprint can be displayed.
Moreover, there exists a notable convergence among the terms “biomass,” “bio-sourced,” and “bio-based,” which may blend into the term “man-made”, if subjected to extensive chemical processing. The terms “naturally occurring substance” and “not chemically modified substance” within REACH [12] underscore this inherent overlap.
Final remarks
The concept of a “sustainable lubricant” is subject to various interpretations, and the effort to develop lubricants with enhanced sustainability is an ongoing challenge. Currently, this endeavour can be likened to attempting to hit a moving target obscured by fog behind a mountain in the dark – a process characterised by uncertainty and complexity. Predicting the likely quantities to meet is also difficult due to lack of reliable data, like product carbon footprints. However, lubricant sustainability remains imperative, driven by environmental impacts, climate targets and responsible business practices. It is advisable to orient this development on what is codified, because “green claims” may be seen as greenwashing by U.S. FTC and European Commission.
Companies and forward-thinking researchers are pioneering innovative solutions that harmonise environ-mental responsibility with performance, economic benefits, and regulatory compliance. The significant reduction in friction during the use phase (scope 3, cat. 11), facilitated by advanced lubricants compared to state-of-the-art alternatives, not only dominates lifecycle analyses, but also translates into “avoided emissions” (scope 4). This positions
40 LUBE MAGAZINE NO.180 APRIL 2024
Another bottleneck is the question of whether the customer or end user will pay more for climate protection and environmental friendliness if no regulations are in place. As the industry explores alternatives for synthesising biodegradable and renewable lubricant components, progress is made toward a more sustainable and environmentally friendly future, where lubricants play a vital role not
only in machineries by reducing friction and thus CO2 in the use phase, but in preserving our planet for generations to come.
Dr. Raj Shah is a Director at Koehler Instrument Company in New York, where he has worked for the last 28 years. He is an elected Fellow by his peers at IChemE, CMI, STLE, AIC, NLGI, INSTMC, Institute of Physics, The Energy Institute and The Royal Society of Chemistry. An ASTM Eagle award recipient, Dr. Shah recently coedited the bestseller, “Fuels and Lubricants handbook”, details of which are available at ASTM’s Long-Awaited Fuels and Lubricants Handbook 2nd Edition Now Available (
https://bit.ly/3u2e6GY).He earned his doctorate in Chemical Engineering from The Pennsylvania State University and is a Fellow from The Chartered Management Institute, London. Dr. Shah is also a Chartered Scientist with the Science Council, a Chartered Petroleum Engineer with the Energy Institute and a Chartered Engineer with the Engineering council, UK. Dr. Shah was recently granted the honourific of “Eminent engineer” with Tau beta Pi, the largest engineering society in the USA. He is on the Advisory board of directors at Farmingdale university (Mechanical Technology), Auburn Univ ( Tribology ), SUNY, Farmingdale, (Engineering Management) and State university of NY, Stony Brook ( Chemical engineering/ Material Science and engineering). An Adjunct Professor at the State University of New York, Stony Brook, in the Department of Material Science and Chemical engineering, Raj also has over 575 publications and has been active in the energy industry for over 3 decades. More information on Raj can be found at
https://bit.ly/3QvfaLX
Contact:
rshah@koehlerinstrument.com
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