Lubricants producer Lubrizol has released a report on the role of engine oils in improving fuel economy in Western Europe.
The report highlights the development of new engine oil technology being driven by three main factors: emissions legislation; fuel economy requirements and oil durability. Of the three, Lubrizol believes fuel economy will be the key to changing the engine oil landscape over the next five years.
The European Union parc in 2006 was more than 250 million vehicles, pumping out 26% of the region's man-made CO2 emissions. With the EU proposing fines for OEMs based on emissions, Lubrizol believes the demand for fuel economy-enhancing engine oils will increase significantly. This will also be the case for heavy duty diesel engine oils, although fuel efficiency is currently harder to measure in this sector.
The report's conclusion is that a new generation of fuel-efficient engine oils is required which are also durable and offer aftertreatment system protection.