Lube Tune-Up: Motor oil from recycled plastic could improve automotive-fuel efficiency
Every year, the United States generates 25 million tons of plastic waste, but only about 1 million tons of it gets recycled. To make better use of this vast waste stream, chemists at Chevron and the University of Kentucky in Lexington have developed a technique for transforming plastic into high-performance lubricating oils that could boost the fuel efficiencies of vehicles.
“Automakers have been trying to get as much fuel efficiency out of their cars as they can,” says lead investigator Stephen Miller of ChevronTexaco Energy Technology Company in Richmond, Calif. “You can do that partially with better lubricating oils,” he says. For instance, less-viscous oils lower friction in the engine, thereby reducing fuel consumption.