Illustrating the world’s first Carbon Neutral Engine Oil

CLIENT

Castrol Professional

PURPOSE

To help their dealers understand that although the amount of CO2 offset for a single one litre pack of engine oil might be small (2 kg), it adds up. Particularly when seen from the point of view of a whole country, or indeed world sales.

DESCRIPTION

An animated film for the European dealer launch at CERN in Switzerland of ‘the world’s first CO2 Neutral Engine Oil’.

A resounding success - thank you for turning this round so quickly. We are very happy with the final product and it was well received last week at CERN.

Adrian Pask, Global OEM Offer Development Manager Castrol Professional

How do you visualise carbon offsetting? This is, after all, carbon removed from the air to mitigate actual emissions. That was the challenge facing us when asked by Castrol Professional to create an animated film for the European dealer launch at CERN in Switzerland of ‘the world’s first CONeutral Engine Oil’.

Castrol wanted a way to help their dealers understand that although the amount of CO2 offset for a single one litre pack of engine oil might be small (2 kg), it adds up. Particularly when seen from the point of view of a whole country, or indeed world sales.

Rather than showing the CO2 emitted in the manufacture of a consumer product, our role was to show that Castrol ‘neutralised’ those emissions. We set about writing and developing a story-board that could be animated in record time (we had less than a month to complete the project).

 

Background

Castrol Professional products have become the first CO2 neutral engine oils in Europe. EDGE Professional, MAGNATEC Professional and GTX Professional have all been certified CO2 neutral according to BSI PAS2060, a standard for measuring and managing the CO2 footprint of a product’s life cycle.

The company underpins its CO2 neutral claims with good science including reduction in the manufacturing process. It offsets the remaining CO2 by investing in a portfolio of emission reduction projects such as reforestation in Kenya, clean electricity generation in China and wind farms in New Caledonia.

In 2014, 200,000 tonnes of CO2 are likely to be neutralised globally by Castrol Professional. This figure is expected to grow to nearly half a million tonnes annually the following year.

 

More on Castrol Professional

More on CO2 reduction projects being supported by Castrol Professional

Tackling CO2 emissions is a major issue for the automotive industry globally and Castrol Professional has made this a central part of our working relationship with manufacturers and dealers, as we develop ever-more sophisticated engine oil formulations.
This is a practical step towards a longer commitment to innovate sustainably through continued technological and scientific advancement.

John Ward-Zinski, Global Brand Director Castrol Professional

To cover so many visualisations in 90 seconds with a strong product focus was potentially a tall order. Looping our narrative through a virtual world within the pack itself encourages viewers to explore and re-explore this complex story.

Dave Forman, Project Manager / Designer Carbon Visuals

The brevity and directness of this film gives staff, dealers and consumers an easy and quick feel for the product and emissions saved on a range of scales from a litre to half a million tonnes.

Antony Turner, CEO Carbon Visuals