Our climate and economy are facing some huge challenges in the coming decades. Among them is the depletion of the natural petrochemical reserves which most of the world relies on for power, plastic, and lubrication.
Every liter of oil pulled from the ground represents not only greenhouse gas emissions but also a liter of oil which will be unavailable in the future.
Estimates from British Petroleum put us at about half a century of reserves left at our current rate of consumption. It’s a scary though, especially considering how dependent modern society is on oil.
Fossil fuel depletion
It’s sometimes considered a fringe topic, but the depletion of natural reserves of oil is an enormous concern.
Oil takes millions of years to form, primarily being formed from plants and organisms which are much, much older than our entire civilization. When the organic mass is pressed down upon by the enormous pressure of the earth’s crust over them they degrade into the mess of hydrocarbons which we call crude oil.
As time has gone on we’ve expanded our extraction methods. Previously wells pulled liquid oil directly from the earth but in modern times there are an assortment of methods used to try and pull pressure off of the world’s oil reserves.
Whether it’s fracking or sifting through the low quality crude that makes up the bulk of the world’s oil sands, humanity simply can’t get enough oil to keep things powered and running smooth. Oil is more omnipresent than many people realize, even plastics are simply merged hydrocarbons drawn from crude oil.
The truth is that replacing oil as a fuel source will be relatively easy compared to the other parts of the equation. The world’s economy is built on oil. It’s used to reduce wear in machines, distilled into solvents, and it’s the key ingredient for modern logistics.
Most of us aren’t ready to picture a world without oil. While it may happen eventually the process is bound to be long and painful.
Conserving oil through recycling
Oil recycling is nothing new.
The problem lies in the fact that much of the “recycled” oil is simply filtered to remove the bulk of the contaminants and moved farther down the chain. Whether it’s oil from your car or the lube for an industrial honing machine it will eventually end up as either bitumen used to bind asphalt or being burned in a furnace somewhere.
So, essentially, traditional oil recycling only prolongs the lifespan of oil. It’s a noble gesture but in the end it does very little to reduce demand for oil and with a growing global population it’s simply not enough.
In an ideal world, the same oil could be used time and time again for the same purpose. After all, most of the contaminants in oil are able to be removed before it ends up in a machine.
Why wouldn’t we be able to afterwards?
That’s exactly what’s happening now.
Regeneration of lubrication oil
The technology behind circular use of oil is known as Double Separation Technology (DST). Through DST we have proven time and time again to be able to remove over 99% of the total contaminants in oil which has reached the end of its useful lifespan.
Lube oil requires about 1.4 litres of crude to produce a liter of the end product. With DST involved, less than 10% of the oil needs to be replaced during normal operation. The result? A liter of DST treated oil requires less than 0.2 litre of crude oil input.
The oil, once cleaned through DST, can then have it’s additives replicated due to our partnerships with leading lubricant manufacturers and sent back to those who need it. Indefinitely, we’ve had oils go through the process dozens of times with more than satisfactory results for our clients.
This isn’t oil recycling, it’s oil regeneration. The DST process removes 94%+ of contaminants in the oil, even removing harsh oxides that result from catalytic action in the oil and the effects of heat and pressure over time.
By regenerating oil it can remain in circulation for virtually unlimited uses rather than being fed down the chain until it ends up being burned in a furnace somewhere.
The end result for fossil fuel reserves
When DST is used on lubrication oils it cuts the required input from crude down by an enormous factor. We’ve seen it drop as much as 90% in some cases.
That’s great news for the future. Reducing the consumption of oil doesn’t just prolong reserves: it also reduces overall demand for new oil extraction with all of the attendant environmental problems that come with most oil drilling and mining techniques.
The truth is that oil is just going to get more and more expensive and harder to extract as time continues to march on. By keeping oil in circulation for dozens of times longer than was possible previously we can help to reduce global demand for oil as the world begins to prepare for our next step when it comes to energy.
DST is a game changer. Using our technique oil can be restored to it’s previous status, the additive package placed within, and returned.
Think of it as renting oil and you’re on the right track.
Want to learn more?
While the world’s oil reserves being depleted is an eventuality we have to prepare for, there’s a solution in the regeneration of oil instead of the traditional recycling methods.
Imagine a world where the same lubricant oil remains in the chain indefinitely. Where even the most contaminated oil can be filtered, processed, and returned to the supply chain without sacrificing quality.
That’s the world that we’re working to bring to reality.
If you’re interested, then perhaps it’s time to learn more about Double Separation Technology.