ILMA Compoundings June 2017 - 41

IN NETWORK

Cross Connections
UNITI Congress Offers Insights Into
Challenges Ahead
By Valentina Serra-Holm

he picture of the European lubricant industry
emerging from the UNITI Mineral Oil Technology
Congress, which took place in Stuttgart, Germany,
in April, offered many valuable insights into the technical
challenges that our industry is facing.
Among an assortment of topics discussed were sustainability and the possible impact of the ambitious target set at
the Paris climate conference (COP21) in December 2015,
when 195 countries adopted the first universal, legally binding global climate deal. It was agreed upon that from the
year 2050 and on, carbon dioxide emissions shall not exceed
carbon dioxide absorption.
This agreement will have major consequences for the
transportation sector, which is one of the main contributors
to carbon dioxide emissions worldwide.
Many different approaches are likely to be followed,
including higher tax and toll systems, but new technologies
will also need to be adopted in order to reach these climate
protection targets. One approach will concern fuels, with
the replacement of fossil fuels with renewable energy sources
such as biofuels.
Electro mobility, or e-mobility, is another important trend
which will likely have an impact.

The move toward electric vehicles is ongoing and could
be accelerated by public policy as an increasing number of
cities are establishing targets for electric passenger cars. The
extent of the impact of e-mobility on the lubricant industry is yet to be assessed and will very much depend on the
development of passenger car electrification.
What is clear is that lubricant demand, which has continuously decreased over past decades under the combined effects
of deindustrialization and increased energy efficiency, might
see a further decline specifically because of the impact of
e-mobility on engine oil consumption. Car electrification will
also pose new technological challenges to lubricant blenders,
as new requirements need to be investigated and met.
E-mobility is only one of the challenges that the lubricant
industry is facing. In his presentation about the European
lubricant market, Dr. Lutz Lindemann from Fuchs presented the industry's outlook for the next decade, highlighting
the prospect of a significant reduction in lubricant demand,
particularly for metal-processing oils, engine oils and gear
oils. He also stressed that digital processes will play a major
role in attracting different players in the market. Small- to
mid-sized companies offering modeling and simulation
of tribo-systems are coming between lube manufacturers
and customers. According to Lindemann, the traditional
lubricants industry will undergo significant change at the
very least.
A key factor to the success of our industry will be identifying ongoing developments and trends and forming new
strategies to meet those new trends.
Innovation will be the focus of the Union of the European Lubricants Industry (UEIL) yearly Congress, set for Oct.
25-27 in Bologna, Italy. The congress will offer an excellent
occasion to discuss how our industry can be innovative
looking forward.
Serra-Holm is president of the Union of the European
Lubricants Industry.

ILMA Compoundings June 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ILMA Compoundings June 2017