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Tons of Gulf of Mexico Oil-Soaked Material Go into the Volt

Nearly half a year ago, American manufacturer GM announced that it has found a way to help reduce the disaster caused by the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, by trying to utilize oil-soaked material originating from that area. The material was to go into the Volt plug-in hybrid.

Now, the carmaker says that it has made use of about 212,500 pounds of recycled oil booms collected from the Alabama and Louisiana coasts to manufacture the air deflectors on the Volt. These parts are, according to Volt, some of the most environmentally friendly ones that have ever made it into a car, 75 percent of their composition being made from recycled materials (apart from the oil-booms, the air deflectors also comprise recycled tires and packaging plastic.

“GM decided to offer assistance by collecting boom material from the Gulf coast until there was no longer a need,” said John Bradburn, GM’s manager of waste-reduction efforts. “We’re in the process of identifying other areas where the material we have left can be used – potentially in our plants – now that we have a sufficient quantity for the Volt.”

The Deepwater Horizon disaster of 2010 has become the largest man-made environmental disaster in history. An estimated 53,000 barrels per day leaked into the ocean from April 20, the day the rig exploded, to July 15 when BP, the company that operated it, managed to cap the leak. On its part, BP had to pay millions of dollars in damages to the US government.
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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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