Ford’s Greening Plan: Will It Be Successful?
Part 2: Green Building Materials
Earlier this week, I wrote about my experience at Ford headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan. Specifically, I discussed the Ford Escape Hybrid. While I was in Dearborn, I also had the chance to check out some of the “green” materials that Ford is currently using/plans to use in their vehicles.
One of these materials is soy-based foam, which is present in the 2008 Mustang, the F-150, the Expedition, the Navigator, and the Focus. The foam is made by crushing soybeans to get oil, which is then turned into soy polyol. According to Ford, the foam reduces CO2 emissions by 5 million pounds annually. Soy proteins are also eventually going to be used in rubber parts.
- » See also: US Energy and Ag Departments Providing $6.3M for Specialized Biofuels Research
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Other materials that Ford is looking at include Indian grass to make molding compounds and hemp for door panel inserts and insulation.
One questionable green material that Ford is looking at is corn. Currently, Ford researchers are using corn to make polylactic acid (PLA), a biodegradable plastic. Considering how much corn is already going into biofuels, it doesn’t really make sense for a major car manufacturer to start pumping out plastic made from the stuff. We only have so much land that can be used for our food supplies, and there must be a better way to create biodegradable plastic.
But Ford can’t be faulted for trying. With so much experimentation going on in the search for environmentally friendly building materials, they’re bound to get it right at some point.
Further Reading Material:
- Snapshot of Battery Technology for Plug-in Hybrid Electric Cars
- Google To Spend $10 Million on Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle Project
- Plug-In Hybrids Could Require 160 New Power Plants By 2030 (Or None At All)
Oh here it is! I thought I was going nuts.
Great story. PS tiny fix polypol ->polyol.
I hope you got my email, I write and edit for a major tech site and do a lot of alternative energy stuff and would love to share leads if you want to. I’d cite you of course.
How’d you like Michigan? Right now thats where I’m based out of, though I might be moving to Oregon in about a year…
-Jay
So, does this mean in a few years, and depending on the amount of sun the car gets, that one will have to replace the ’soy based foam ?’ due to natural degredation ? Could you also say that , based on the foam it would be weaker in an accident ? Am I seeing this clearly ? Hhhmm
Foam hasn’t ever been used as a primary safety device in an accident, let alone been a load bearing piece of design. Foam, being flammable, is not used in race vehicles at all, yet many of them are safer in an accident than a standard consumer vehicle.
Also, they will not likely leave the foam uncovered, so it would be out of direct sunlight. You can’t see the foam (hopefully) in your car now, so UV decay would be minimal to none. ^_^
I would be interested in load cycle degradation. In that, after so many years, all foams compress under load and don’t always return to original size. Like a really old sofa that has lost it’s fluff because the foam in the pillows has collapsed. It will be interesting to see if the soy foam will hold it’s structure over time.