Ford Motor Company and Lear Corporation will mark an automotive milestone in August when production of soy-based foam for seats begins in the 2008 model year Ford Mustang.
America's beloved pony car will use the industry's first soy-based flexible foam in the seat backs and seat cushions beginning in August at the Auto Alliance International factory in Flat Rock, Michigan, home of the Ford Mustang.
Ford was the first automaker in the world to demonstrate that soy-based polyols could be used at high percentage levels to make foam capable of meeting or exceeding automotive requirements. In 2004, Ford and Lear formed a partnership to commercialize soy-foam applications, with initial work concentrating on the molding of headrest and armrest components.
Lear is a leader in the area of environmental systems for automotive seating with industry firsts, such as the use of expanded polypropylene and polyethylene materials. These materials are used in place of traditional polyurethane foam which offers lower mass and is 100 percent recyclable.
Most automotive manufacturers today use 100 percent petroleum-based polyol foam. Each vehicle produced today contains an average of 30 pounds of petroleum-based foam. The total annual worldwide market for the foam is 9 billion pounds.
The environmental advantages of soy-foam include: a reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions when compared to current petroleum-based material, lower energy required to produce the material, up to 24 percent renewable content, and a reduction of dependence on volatile energy markets.
Source: CNNMoney
