2010 Ford Flex to Feature Wheat Straw-Reinforced Plastic

As vehicles around the world have began being transformed in nature's most fervent advocates, the companies which build them try and come up with more and more innovative, wacky ideas to integrate as much nature into vehicles as they can.

The last development from the eco front comes from American manufacturer Ford, who announced today it is working, together with academic researchers and one of its suppliers, on the development of a wheat straw-reinforced plastic to be used in vehicles.

"Ford continues to explore and open doors for greener materials that positively impact the environment and work well for customers," Patrick Berryman, Ford engineering manager/interior trim said in a release.

"We seized the opportunity to add wheat straw-reinforced plastic as our next sustainable material on the production line, and the storage bin for the Flex was the ideal first application."

Together with the University of Waterloo, the University of Guelph, University of Toronto and University of Windsor (united under the Ontario BioCar Initiative name), Ford created a natural fiber-based plastic made of 20 percent wheat straw and featured on the 2010 Ford Flex's third-row interior storage bins.

According to initial data, using this instead of regular plastic will make petroleum usage be reduced by some 20,000 pounds per year, while CO2 emissions by 30,000 pounds per year.

"Wheat is everywhere and the straw is in excess," Dr. Ellen Lee, Ford Plastics Research added. "We have found a practical automotive usage for a renewable resource that helps reduce our dependence on petroleum, uses less energy to manufacture, and reduces our carbon footprint. More importantly, it doesn't jeopardize an essential food source."