Baseoil from sugar. Novvi and renewable base oils.

[WillietheGear]

any Lurch or Cousin Itt reference, and you got me.

 

[WillietheGear]

I don't see any mention of producing PAO there? PAO is a single type of base oil produced using Ethylene, where it sounds like these renewable base oils are Group III:

Overkill, you are on target

 

[WillietheGear]

I was just reading this vaguely related snippet from a larger article assessable to the layperson**

Estolides
Unsaturated or hydroxycarboxylic fatty acids, as a renewable (plant) resource, possess strong lubrication properties that are difficult to apply in finished lubricants due to low cold temperature performance and oxidative stability. However, when converted to estolides, they become fully saturated, secondary esters with mostly hydrocarbon characteristics that impart stronger oxidative/low temperature performance.[2] There are two options for synthesising estolides from vegetable oils (oleic):

Polymerisation involving the epoxidation of unsaturations (double bonds) of fatty acids
Reactions of hydroxy fatty acids, such as ricinoleic acid (C18:1-0H) from castor oil or lesquerolic acids (C20:1-0H).

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** https://www.fuelsandlubes.com/fli-article/base-oil-evolution/

Hey ARCO -- if I can call you that -- different technology.

 

[PimTac]

I don't see the name "Novvi" on the box. Here is the up-to-date website; no more mentions of sugar

As I understand it, Chevron owns part of Novvi as an equity investor.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

While I’m a fan of innovation, it seems really dumb to me how they keep finding “alternative uses” for crops that either are food or food ingredients (ethanol & soy being two big ones) directly, or that must displace foods in order to be grown. To add insult to injury, not only is food crop planting controlled by artificial diktat rather than market forces, many of these alternative uses are then subsidized with our tax dollars.

The most ironic part has been covered before by Jason Fenske- ethanol is sold as a “green” fuel, but when the entire lifecycle is accounted for, ethanol results in roughly 24% MORE CO2 release than petroleum!