The global market for Biolubricants is projected to reach US$2.6 billion by the year 2027, trailing a post COVID-19 CAGR of 5.2%, over the analysis period 2020 through 2027. For thriving in tomorrow's market, sustainability will become more than an attractive concept. It will become a tool for growing profitability. Opportunities are afoot for sustainable solutions ranging from green buildings to sustainable lubrication in the post COVID-19 period. A bio-lubricant is a readily biodegradable, non-toxic product that breaks down by a minimum amount of 60% within a period of 28 days, is renewable by nature, or contains a minimum of 25% carbon that is bio-sourced. Bio-based lubricants (Biolubricants) represent a 'greener' alternative for the conventional lubricating oils that jeopardize the world's ecological balance through noxious emissions. The sector is garnering rapid impetus from environmental activists due to its exceptional 'environmental benignity'. Bio-based lubricants made significant progress in the recent past in various applications, which seek to leverage superior features and uniqueness of these lubes, such as biodegradability and relatively lower flammability, toxicity, and volatility. Biolubricants constitute for about 1% of the total lubricants market globally. Biolubricants, generally based on vegetable oils, represent a new technological trend in the lubricants industry. Vegetable oils generally constitute about 90% of the biolubricant product. Vegetable oils used in biolubricants are obtained from oilseed crops such as oleic seed crops.

Environmentally friendly lubricants continue to remain popular, particularly in the European region, where demand is driven by subsidies, tax breaks, and national as well as international labeling programs. The market is also riding high on growing demand from various end-use industries, including automotive, forest products, and marine. Biolubricants are also being adopted as greases, two stroke engine oils, process oils, hydraulic fluids, concrete mould release agents, chainsaw oils, metal working fluids, transformer oils, and gear oils. Biolubricants are increasingly being used in applications, such as construction and earth moving machinery, snow-track and snowmobiles maintenance machinery, agricultural machinery, ski jets, railway gears, push tugs, commercial elevators, water treatment, reservoirs, sewage plant, landfill operations, rock-drill, and motorboats. Increasing need to lubricate various systems below the waterline, including thruster gearboxes, stern tube bearing, and horizontal stabilizers is driving the demand for biodegradable lubricants in the marine industry. Growing usage in equipment and machinery running in locations where there is a major risk of water or soil contamination due to lubricant leakage is also driving growth. Environmental impact and pollution resulting from mineral oils either in natural form or synthetic form while in use or after use disposal has emerged as a point of serious concern. Further, with concerns over depleting crude oil reserves, global efforts to find a viable alternative for petroleum-based products will grow in the coming years.

Against this backdrop, vegetable oils and animal fats, the use of which was hindered by petrochemical derivatives for more than a century, are steadily resurfacing into the global arena once again. Biolubricants, which are produced using vegetable oils and animal fats as base stocks, are fully biodegradable and immediately propose a reliable alternative to petroleum based products and a potential renewable source of lubricants. Biolubricants are poised to witness healthy growth once the economy recovers from COVID-19 driven by growing demand for renewable, natural, non-toxic non-polluting and sustainable lubricants. They are expected to become an important class of lubricants due to their beneficial characteristics such as superior lubricity, higher viscosity indices, and better anticorrosion properties. Growing environmental concerns would help bio-based lubricants make their way into high-demand and lucrative application areas in the automotive and industrial sectors. Consequently, biolubricants will play a key role in formulating new policies and strategies that help in reduction of reliance on non-renewable sources and mineral oil based products. Moreover, government regulations have and will continue to help promote these products. Strict government regulations, particularly in North America and Europe, that discourage the use of synthetic and chemical-based lubricants is expected to act as a demand driver. While the US and Europe are expected to remain the key markets for biolubricants in the near future, developing regions such as Asia-Pacific and Latin America are poised to generate the fastest demand growth. Biolubricants are increasingly being pursued for their promising potential to formulate economically sustainable and environmentally safer products. The statement stands tall considering the proven harmful environmental impact of petroleum based products and fast depleting global oil stocks.