Sustainability of Lubricants

API TR 1533 Lubricants Life Cycle Assessment and Carbon Footprinting—Methodology and Best Practice

The purpose of this Technical Report is to define terminology and to identify and capture industry practices for life LCA and CFP of lubricants. Life cycle assessment (LCA) and carbon footprints of products (CFP) are established methodologies used to quantify the environmental performance of products, processes, or services, and are increasingly being used as a basis for environmental decision-making along the supply chain. While LCA includes multiple impact categories, CFP focuses specifically on the impact category of “climate change,” which is associated with greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions/removals.

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API TR 1533, Lubricants Life Cycle Assessment and Carbon Footprinting—Methodology and Best Practice

Publicly available data sources that could aid in the application of the guidance provided by this Technical Report can be found in Annex A of API TR 1533. This list may be modified over the lifetime of API TR 1533 to include new and/or eliminate outdated or obsolete publicly available data sources.

The table below should be considered as the most current listing of publicly available data sources made known to API and does not purport to contain all publicly available data. A future version of API TR 1533 will reference this table directly through website reference.

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Annex A - Publicly Available Data Sources

Source	LCA Stage	Description	Link
API	End-of-life	Life Cycle Assessment of Used Oil Management (2017)	https://www.api.org/~/media/Files/Certification/Engine-Oil-Diesel/Publications/LCA-of-Used-Oil-Mgmt-ERM-10012017.pdf
ATIEL	Avoived emissions	Lubricants’ contribution to fuel economy; aka “Ricardo Energy & Environment”	https://atiel.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/DOC-20.pdf
CalRecycle	Loss in use	California used oil LCA; losses during use phase by lubricant type; Kline and Company	https://www2.calrecycle.ca.gov/Publications/Details/1512
CIMAC	General resource	Internal Council on Combustion Engines	https://www.cimac.com/publications/guidelines/index.html
DEFRA (U.K.)	Loss in use/ end-of-life	Emmision factor for combustion, 2021	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/greenhousegas- reporting-conversion-factors-2021
DOE	End-of-life	Waste fate material flows; U.S. market; Used Oil Management and Beneficial Reuse Options to Address Section 1: Energy Savings from Lubricating Oil	https://www.energy.gov/fecm/articles/used-oil-management-and-beneficial-reuse-report-congress
Ecoinvent	Packaging	Emission factors for raw materials (e.g. plastics, metal)	https://ecoinvent.org/
Ecoinvent, general	End-of-life	General introduction; waste material compositions; municipal waste collection	https://www.doka.ch/13_I_WasteTreatmentGeneral.pdf
EPA	End-of-life	Emission factors for used oil	https://www.epa.gov/climateleadership/ghg-emission- factors-hub
EPA, AP-42	General resource	Fuel oil combustion	https://www3.epa.gov/ttnchie1/ap42/ch01/final/c01s03.pdf
EPA, eGRID	General resource	Grid factors	https://www.epa.gov/egrid/download-data
EPA Facts and Figures	End-of-life	Looks at generation, recycling, composting, combustion with energy recovery, landfilling for a variety of materials and products, and other pathways for food	https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials- waste-and-recycling/guide-facts-and-figures-report- about#Materials_and_Products
EPA GHG Calculator	Conversion reference	This calculator may be useful in communicating a greenhouse gas reduction strategy, reduction targets, or other initiatives aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions	https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator
EPA, NEPIS	General resource	Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) Data Treatment Chemicals, Construction Materials, Transportation, On-site Equipment, and Other Processes for Use in Spreadsheets for Environmental Footprint Analysis (SEFA)	https://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyPURL.cgi?Dockey=P100SNDQ.txt
EPA, Scope 3	General resource	Scope 3 emissions are the result of activities from assets not owned or controlled by the reporting organization, but that the organization indirectly impacts in its value chain.	https://www.epa.gov/climateleadership/scope-3-inventory-guidance
EPA, Vermont Used Oil Study	End-of-life	Vermont Used Oil Analysis and Waste Oil Furnace Emissions Study	https://www3.epa.gov/ttn/catc/dir1/w_oilacr.pdf
ERASM	General resource	Environment and health; risk assessment and management	https://www.erasm.org/
Eurostat	End-of-life	Waste fate material flows; E.U.;EuroStat Data Browser; waste category: used oil; data can be split by waste management operation	https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/ENV_ WASTRT custom_429516/default/table?lang=en
GaBi	General	Databases; cross-sector calculation tool	https://ghgprotocol.org/gabi-databases
GHG Protocol—CHP	Allocation	Allocation of GHG Emissions from a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Plant	https://ghgprotocol.org/sites/default/files/CHP_guidance_v1.0.pdf
GLEC	Logistics	Emission factors by transport type	https://www.smartfreightcentre.org/en/downloads/
GREET	General resource	Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Technologies Model; Argonne National Laboratory	https://greet.anl.gov/
PEF	General resource	Multi-criteria measure of the environmental performance of a good or service throughout its life cycle	https://ec.europa.eu/environment/eussd/pdf/footprint/PEF%20methodology%20final%20draft.pdf
Springer Link	General resource	LCA of petroleum-based lubricants: state of art and inclusion of additives	https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11367-012-0437-4?utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=commission_
Springer Link	Uncertainty	How to treat uncertainties in life cycle assessment studies?	https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11367-018-1477-1?utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=commission _
Wiley	Biolubricant	A sustainability Assessment of a Biolubricant	https://doi.org/10.1162/108819803323059460