Re: synth vs. the environment (Audi content only insofar as it relates to Audi oil changes!)

[Jason Aamodt <Jason-aamodt@utulsa.edu>]

The debate on oil pollution is really interesting to me, so I thought I'd
add my 2 cents:

Oils pollute.  Oils, for the record, also biodegrade.  But, biodegrading
oils is BAD!!  They do some nasty things while they are biodegrading in the
environment.  In fact, it is not the oil itself that is the biggest problem.
Rather, the impurities and the additives that are in the oil, or are formed
in the oil during use in an engine are the most dangerous substances in the
environment.

Even if whatever oil you chose is supposed to biodegrade, that doesn't mean
you can just dump it in your backyard after the oil change.  The soy oils
would probably contain stabilizers, etc that could have nasty effects in the
environment.  Certainly the products of the soy oil as it decays in use (in
the engine) have the potential to be very dangerous.  

Doug is right that the least polluting thing you can do is to keep the
engine running EFFICIENTLY.

BEYOND THAT, DISPOSE OF THE OIL IN A WAY THAT IT DOES NOT BIODEGRADE (esp in
the environment): Recycle it.  Oil is a precious commodity, even after it
has been through our engines.  It can be reprocessed into just about
anything we can imagine.  So, for all of our sakes, gather up that oil, get
it in a recycling collection system and do us all (yourself included) a
favor.  Remember, we have less and less oil in reserves every day.  There
will come a time when those drops (HA! -I'm probably as guilty as the rest)
we have discarded will be precious indeed.

Jason Aamodt
Research Fellow
The National Energy-Environment Law And Policy Institute
Tulsa College of Law

'88 5ksq that just lost another window regulator after I bragged that only 1
was bad.  Karma?

>
>> 	IF you watn a Synth vs Dino debate on benefits to the engine then
>> LEave.  REad no further.  THis is a question about environmental Benefits.
>
>Don't know the answer, but back about '75, there was at least one company
>trying to market a motor oil made from soybeans, which was 100% 
>biodegradeable. It was about $10.00 per quart in 1975, so it's clear why
>it caught on...
>
>No disrespect to our Green Friends in Europe, but no one over there as
>mentioned using any biodegradeable oil, so I can only guess that either
>cost killed these oils, or, they did not offer sufficient protection to the
>engine, in which case, the engine would end up polluting worse than if
>it ran dino or synth.
>
>Anybody know different?   -Doug Q
>--
>-Douglas Hurst Quebbeman (dougq@iglou.com)       [Call me "Doug"]
>    QuattroClub USA# 4536     Audi International # 100024
>       74 100LS Auto,     84 Coupe GT 
>       77 100LS Auto,     86 5Kcstq QLCC 1.8bar  
>"The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away."  -Tom Waits
>
____________________________________________________
Jason B. Aamodt
Research Fellow
National Energy-Environment Law and Policy Institute
University of Tulsa College of Law
John Rogers Hall
3120 East Fourth Place
Tulsa, OK 74104-2499
  *  *  *  *  *  *
Phone: 918/631-3049
Fax: 918/631-2194
E-mail: Jason-Aamodt@utulsa.edu