bioplastic

Soy seats aren't Ford's only way to introduce as many bio-materials as possible into a production vehicle. See also: Mazda's biofabric and Toyota's "ecological plastics." Ford announced today that a new wheat straw-reinforced plastic ...

Aside from fuels, one of the biggest uses of petroleum is in the production of polymer materials like plastics. Just as automakers have attempted to reduce the use of petroleum-based fuels, researchers are also working on reducing the other dino juice applications. One of the best known ...

When the new Prius debuts next month at the Detroit Auto Show, its interior will feature significant use of so-called "ecological plastics." These are polymer materials derived from biomass oils rather than petroleum. Toyota had its first application of ...

Aside from metals such as iron, steel and aluminum, perhaps the most common material in cars is plastic. Most of the plastic made today is derived from petroleum. Besides the raw materials used, a lot pf greenhouse gases are produced in the processing of plastics. Bio-materials have been a major ...

Ford has been developing lots of different materials from renewable sources including the soyfoam that they introduced in the Mustang seats for 2008. Now Ford's Japanese affiliate Mazda has kicked off a new research program with hometown school Hiroshima University to develop a new type of plastic. ...

A professor at Polytechnic University, Dr. Richard Gross, has developed a fuel-latent bioplastic, that is, a plastic made from vegetable oils where the fuel capability remains "hidden" until the plastic is converted into biodiesel. His prize: a $2.34 million award from the Defense Advanced Research ...