Ford has developed new foam materials and synthetic resins and plans to produce cars within 5 years

A few days ago, Ford Motor Company announced that it has developed a new type of foaming material and synthetic resin using CO2 as raw material. Among these materials, polyols synthesized from CO2 account for up to 50%, and these materials meet strict automotive test standards. Ford plans to use these materials in parts for the company's production vehicles within five years.

The new plastic will be used in headrests, armrests, doors and floor mats. The new carbon dioxide plastics will also be used in the production of hard plastics for other parts of the car.

If synthetic resin materials can be produced with CO2, the use of fossil fuels can be reduced. According to Ford's estimation, if the foam material made of CO2 is used in seats and engine compartments, more than 2,700 tons of oil can be saved every year. That's equivalent to the annual oil use of 35,000 American households.

The world emits 1088t of CO2 into the atmosphere every second. According to the British Plastics Federation, petroleum accounts for 4% of the world's total synthetic resin production.

Since 2013, Ford has been cooperating with suppliers, enterprises and universities to research ways to recover and reuse CO2. One of these is the use of New York-based Novomer's process to convert CO2 emitted from factories for use in a variety of materials, including foam. Ford uses polyols produced by Novomer using CO2.

Ford has a 20-year history of developing sustainable materials. In North America, soy-based foam has been used in all Ford vehicles. In addition, Ford uses coconut fiber in the inner layer of the trunk, and uses waste tires and soybeans in the rear vision gasket; it also uses recycled jeans and T-shirts for carpets, and uses waste PET bottles as raw materials for " REPREVE" fiber was used in the 2016 pickup truck "F-150".