Filed under: Etc., Ford
If you are going to use a plant as a renewable resource to create sustainable materials suitable for automotive use, you may as well start with a weeds. After all, anyone who lives in states with plenty of lush, green grass knows how prevalent dandelions are in the summer months.
And so it’s not terribly surprising that researchers from Ford and The Ohio State University are working on new rubber and plastic compounds created from the milky white juice that seeps from the stem of the yellow-flowered weeds. The specific plant being used is the Russian dandelion, otherwise known as Taraxacum kok-saghyz to all you budding botanists out there.
Before any dandelions actually start showing up in our cars, Ford needs to ensure the rubber and plastic produced in this process is up to its quality standards. If that happens, such plastics could be used for floor mats, cupholders and interior trim pieces.
Another potential natural plastic resource is the guayule (apparently a shrub that grows naturally in southwestern U.S.). Click past the break to read the entire press release from Ford.
Continue reading Ford looks to weeds for interiors
Ford looks to weeds for interiors originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 10 May 2011 16:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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