Possibly it’s fitting that a person of the first companies to start making products out of carbon contamination is an automaker. For the last 4 years, Ford has actually been working with a producer to develop a CO2-based foam, and quickly a plastic, that can ultimately replace parts made from petroleum.
The shift might minimize petroleum by over 600 million pounds a year. “There’s 30 pounds of foam in a common vehicle, and 300 pounds of plastic,” said Debbie Mielewski, Ford’s senior technical leader of sustainability. “So 10% of the car is plastic currently, which number grows every year as we aim to utilize plastic to change metal for light-weighting, fuel economy purposes.”
The new foam could be utilized in headrests, armrests, in door panels, and under carpeting. CO2-based polymers will likewise be utilized to make hard plastics for most of the rest of a car.
Ford has been making alternative products for the last 15 years; every North American car or truck currently uses some soy foam. There’s also coconut fiber is used in trunk liners, and recycled clothes and plastic bottles enter into carpets and some fabric.
