More than 95% of the lubricant market is dominated by mineral oils, which are contaminating the environment but have a very low price and high availability. As 30% of lubricant used in the industry ends up it the ecosystem, it is very easy to understand why some countries are more and more attracted by the bio-lubricant alternative. Vegetable oils have a number of inherent qualities that give them advantages over petroleum oils, but up to now there is low experience in their use and many limitations have to be overcome.
The project IBIOLAB intends to help SMEs of the bio-lubricant sector to develop new bio-lubricants, enhance the market share of the bio-lubricants and thus reinforce their competitiveness.
Nowadays, lubricants are a key element for automotives, industrial and transport applications. However, they are polluting (water & soil contamination, CO2 emissions), and therefore, there is the strong need to substitute current loss- and high-risk lubricants by more environmentally-friendly ones. Unfortunately, the penetration of bio-lubricants within the market is very low (less than 2% of the market-share) and the market share of SMEs is poor. Two major constraints limiting the bio-lubricant penetration to the market are cost and performance compared to current mineral-based lubricants. Research is improving bio-lubricants since only 20 years and very interesting properties such as very good lubricity characteristics, good corrosion-inhibiting properties, lower volatility have been discovered. However, SMEs usually do not have the resources and the knowledge needed to tackle both the cost and performance problematic. Within this context, the IBIOLAB project will allow the collaboration of experienced Research Centres with SMEs to overcome these bottlenecks and to enhance their competitiveness.
Moreover, the EU has recently established an Euro-eco-label (Regulation EC 1980/2000 ) for hydraulic oils, chainsaws oils, demoulding agents, two-stroke oils, and greases. So far, no products have been awarded by the Euro-eco-labels, because SMEs are not often aware of the criteria to be respected, the associated tests, and benefits that can be expected. A massive communication campaign targeting not only bio-lubricant producers, but also the other actors involved in the chain, either upstream (raw material producers) or downstream (user of lubricants) is necessary. Therefore, IBIOLAB project will base its campaign on demonstration sites organised by IAGs and SMEs, to make them aware of their mutual benefits. It will also promote the collaboration between SMEs (producers and users of bio-lubricants) and RTD to ensure an efficient awarding and diffusion of the European Eco-label.
In conclusion, bringing together a large range of specific expertise in the field of lubricants, the IBIOLAB project will strongly contribute to enhance the market penetration of the bio-lubricants in Europe and to reinforce European SMEs competitiveness.
IBIOLAB project, a Collective Research Project supported by the European 6th Framework Programme - contract number: 030307
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