DEARBORN, MI --- Ford Motor Co.'s soy-based polyurethane foam seat cushions and seatbacks are now on more than 1.5 million Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles on the road today, representing a reduction in petroleum usage of approximately 1.5 million pounds. 

Ford is extending its soy-foam portfolio to include a soy-foam headliner on the 2010 Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner for a 25-percent weight savings versus a traditional glass-mat headliner. 

Ford's next phase of biomaterial research will be highlighted at the Society of Plastics Engineers' 2009 Automotive Composites Conference & Exhibition, Sept. 15-16 in Troy, Mich. Ford will be showcasing how natural fibers can replace petroleum-based reinforcements, leading to "leaner and greener" parts savings of up to 30 percent in weight and about 1,000 years in decomposition time. 

Auto researchers and engineers are examining the use of lighter-weight materials and components in their quest to develop more fuel-efficient vehicles. Ford's approach to alternative materials is not just about the need to be lighter, however, but also about the need to be greener. The company's use of more bio-based, recycled and reclaimed materials in production vehicles today, for example, already is resonating with the growing number of customers consciously purchasing products that are healthier for people and the planet. 

Ford researchers now are looking even harder at plastics, rubber, foam, film and fabric to develop more alternative bio-based materials that are functional, durable and cost-effective, and that decrease our dependence on foreign oil, the automaker said. 

For example, while petroleum and glass fibers are typical ingredients associated with today's automotive plastics, Ford's research team is developing all-new composite recipes that include more natural ingredients such as soy flour, hemp, cellulose, and the sugars in corn, sugarbeets and sugarcane. 

Plastics currently make up approximately 10 percent of a vehicle, ranging from sight-unseen parts, such as impact shields and engine covers, to components that drivers see and interact with every day, including doors and instrument panels. Some of these plastics have fillers such as heavy glass fibers for added strength. Ford is examining the possibility of replacing those glass fibers with natural fiber reinforcements made from cellulose, soy protein, hemp fiber, flax fiber and other bio-based materials. 

So far, lab test results have been promising, with the natural fiber-reinforced plastics showing up to a 30-percent weight reduction, depending on the part. 

Ford is also working with a biodegradable plastic called polylactic acid (PLA). Derived completely from the sugars in corn, sugarbeets, sugarcane, switchgrass and other plants, a plastic part made from PLA can biodegrade after its life cycle in 90 to 120 days versus up to 1,000 years in a landfill for a traditional, petroleum-based plastic. 

Potential automotive applications for PLA are wide ranging, from textile applications for vehicle carpeting, floor mats and upholstery to interior trim pieces that are injection molded. More immediate possibilities include using PLA for nondurable auto applications such as protective wrappings used during vehicle manufacturing and transit. 

The presence of more bio-based materials in automotive plastics does pose mechanical performance, durability and process challenges that Debbie Mielewski, technical leader of Plastics Research at Ford, and her four-person biomaterials group are eager to solve. 

To speed up development, the Ford team is working with several organizations and universities, including the Ontario BioCar Initiative -- a multi-university effort between the University of Guelph, University of Toronto, University of Waterloo and University of Windsor. 

The BioCar Initiative is an Ontario government-funded project designed to advance the use of more plant-based materials in the auto and agricultural industries. Ford holds a spot on BioCar's advisory board and directs some of the project's automotive research with biomaterials. 

Issues on the working block include: 

• Moisture absorption: Natural fiber-reinforced plastics are more likely to absorb moisture over time, causing functional and durability concerns.

• Odor: Injection molding at high temperatures with a natural fiber-reinforced plastic emits an undesirable odor.

• Decomposition: PLA is designed to decompose quickly, but researchers want to make sure it will last the lifetime of a vehicle before that decomposition process starts. 

Experimentation with nano filler materials in plastic composites is still on Ford's research screen, too. Nano fillers have the potential to reduce weight while increasing strength. Early testing shows, in fact, that a plastic reinforced with 5-percent nano filler, instead of the typical 30-percent glass filler, has strength and lightweight properties better than glass. The big challenge all nano researchers are facing today, however, is how to uniformly exfoliate or disperse the nano material within the composite so that weak spots do not occur. 

Although increased usage of bio-based materials in plastics is still in the advanced research phase, Ford said it has already made great inroads with other bio-based, reclaimed and recycled materials that are in Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles today. 

They include:

• Soy-based polyurethane foams on the seat cushions and seatbacks, now in production on the Ford Mustang, Expedition, F-150, Focus, Escape, Escape Hybrid, Mercury Mariner and Lincoln Navigator and Lincoln MKS. More than 1.5 million Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles on the road today have soy-foam seats, which equates to a reduction in petroleum oil usage of approximately 1.5 million pounds. This year, Ford has expanded its soy-foam portfolio to include application of a soy-foam headliner on the 2010 Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner for a 25-percent weight savings over a traditional glass-mat headliner.

• Underbody systems -- such as aerodynamic shields, splash shields and radiator air deflector shields -- made from post-consumer recycled resins such as detergent bottles, tires and battery casings, diverting between 25 and 30 million pounds of plastic from landfills.

• 100 percent post-industrial recycled yarns in seat fabrics on vehicles such as the Ford Escape. The 2010 Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan Hybrids feature 85 percent post-industrial yarns and 15 percent solution-dyed yarns. The 100-percent usage represents a 64-percent reduction in energy consumption and a 60-percent reduction in CO2 emissions.

Ford has licensed its soy-based foam to companies such as Deere & Company for agricultural applications. Ford researchers also continue to welcome biomaterial discussions with other non-auto-related manufacturers of items ranging from child car seats to furniture. 

Ford's Biomaterials and Plastics Research group has nearly 50 years of combined experience at Ford Motor Company in paints, plastics and other materials development.

Led by 23-year veteran Debbie Mielewski, the team includes Dr. Cynthia Flanigan, Dr. Ellen Lee, and research engineers Angela Harris and Laura Beyer. 

Mielewski organized Ford's biomaterials program in 2001, leading her team in the development of Ford's soy-based foam seating, which was first introduced on the Ford Model U concept vehicle in 2003 at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. In 2007, this soy-based foam first hit the production line in the seats of the 2008 Ford Mustang, and has since won multiple awards and industry recognition.