|
Thursday July 12, 2007
|
Depending on how badly I fail trying to cook it, my tofu usually has either a squishy or a spongy texture. Maybe this was the source of Ford's latest eco-friendly inspiration: using soy to make the foam in their seat cushions. Working with the automotive seating gurus of the Lear Corporation, Ford will debut this new technology in their 2008 Ford Mustang.
Ford and Lear have already worked together on incorporating soy-based polyols into their foam headrest and armrests. Soy foam contains renewable material, and requires less energy and produces fewer CO2 emissions than traditional auto foams, which are 100% petroleum-based.
The average car made today contains about 30 pounds of petroleum-based foam; the worldwide market is 9 billion pounds per year. So if everyone started using soy-foam, just image the possibilities!
Ford's press release noted that using soy foam can "[reduce] dependence on volatile energy markets." On the other hand...we are talking about cars here, aren't we?
via AutoblogGreen
Post by Katherine Montgomery
Posted By:
Gearlog
|
|
|
Stumble
Digg
del.icio.us
Slashdot
July 13, 2007 11:10 PM
Most vehicle seats are made with an average of 13 kilograms (30 pounds) of petroleum-based polyol foam. In comparison to them, soy-based form has up to 24 percent renewable content, and it takes less energy to produce and cuts carbon dioxide emissions... Beside soy is a very green, renewable resource... Using soy-based foam gives us the opportunity to conserve natural resources and reduce our environmental footprint... The seats, produced by Lear Corp, will be installed in the cars starting next month and would be part of the Ford Mustang performance parts for 2008 year models. Ford developed foam with as much as 40 per cent soy-based materials for seat backs and cushions... Which would be very much helpful to the environment.. Good endeavor indeed by Ford...