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 This list may be modified over the lifetime of API TR 1533 to include new and/or eliminate outdated or obsolete publicly available data sources.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 | |
| 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 |
