In an attempt to reduce the overall plasticity of the Flex crossover, Ford is using wheat straw, a by-product of wheat, to construct one of the crossover's third-row storage bins.
According to Ford, using wheat straw as a filler element reduces petroleum usage by 20,000 pounds per year and cuts 30,000 pounds of CO2. Presumably this is due to not using whatever filthy by-product is typcially injected into the bins where you store your kids sippy cups.
Ford plans to expand the usage of the wheat-straw reinforced plastics as they are said to be lighter and have better "dimensional integrity."
estreka says:
11:22 AM, 11/11/09
This is far greener than any nickel hydride battery pack. I aplaud Ford for doing things like this. If I remember right, Ford also makes the foam in their seats from similar materials.
danielpund says:
11:28 AM, 11/11/09
Is this Ford initiative as green as this?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duroplast
fuhteng says:
11:33 AM, 11/11/09
I was lucky enough to attend a seminar here in Grad School from one of the experts on this process. He works in France, and the strength of whatever is produced from this junk material is astonishing. Even better is being able to use similar materials to make the adhesive that holds everything together.
hondacura4 says:
12:25 PM, 11/11/09
From Honda in 2006 (although slightly different).
http://world.honda.com/news/2006/c060525BioFabric/
danielpund says:
01:20 PM, 11/11/09
From various civilizations around the world for the last several thousand years (although with much more dung).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe
altimadude00 says:
09:30 PM, 11/11/09
Wow, one maybe two pieces of interior trim on a car that uses hundreds of interior pieces. Break out the soy milk!
gdmstrb says:
03:40 AM, 11/12/09
In addition to this Ford currently utilizes soy foam as seat cushions (in several vehicles) and recycled materials as seat fabric in each of their hybrids.