Sustainability

Renewable Base Stocks and Lubricants

By Simon Johns - Feb 23, 2024

End-users’ increased awareness of their environmental impact is creating a growing market for renewable base stocks and finished products.

Base Stocks

BioAccelergy

BioAccelergy makes plant-based hydrocarbon base stocks for lubricants, transformer fluids and drilling fluids. ExxonMobil entered a joint development agreement with bio-based base stock manufacturer BioAccelergy to commercially scale the company’s products. Its plant-based stocks have BioPreferred status by conforming to U.S. Department of Agriculture specifications.

Biosynthetic Technologies: Estolides

Biosythetic Technologies is leading the charge with an estolide made from soy and castor oil, which provide 12 hydroxy stearic acid. The soy is sourced in the United States and the castor is grown in India, in a very arid environment where nothing else grows and so doesn’t compete with food yet can sustain the local community.

Novvi: Synova

Novvi’s base stock Synova is made in Texas with proprietary technology using plant oil feedstocks. A sugar fermentation technology was previously used but now Novvi mines the best molecules it can from plant sources. Since 2016, Chevron has been an equity investor in the California-based company.

Lubricants

Adnoc: Voyager Green

Voyager PX Green is a carbon neutral and sustainable engine oil formulated with SynNova, a synthetic API Group III base oil manufactured by Novvi from palm, soy, coconut and rapeseed sourced in the United States, Brazil and Southeast Asia. According to Adnoc Distribution, this move into biobased material is part of a sustainability project in which the company is “geared up for readying with plant based synthetic engine oils.” The company is developing DX Green for heavy-duty vehicles and an automatic transmission fluid.

Nynas: Nytro Bio 300X and Nytex Bio 6200

Sweden’s Nynas introduced a bio-based high-performance transformer fluid called Nytro Bio 300X, the first product in its new bio-based range. Nytex Bio 6200 is its first tyre and rubber oil produced using renewable feedstock.

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