The automotive industry continues to reinvent itself and as it does so I think we’re going to a continuation of environmental benefits beyond the engine and source of fuel. If you are anywhere near the same vintage as myself think back to the days of your youth and your parents vehicles. In my case it was the early 1970′s and almost everything on the exterior of the car was made of steel, from the bumpers/fenders to the wing view mirrors and the whole body metal was the order of the day. In the subsequent decades car manufacturers have gradually added more and more plastic and plastic compounds to the exterior of the vehicle making cars lighter, quicker to make and easier to repair after accidents. If you’ve ever wondered how much of your own vehicle actually is still made from steel try placing a magnet to any of the panels and see what happens.

The percentage of car body parts made in plastics continues to increase but the environmental cost of plastic is far from ideal. Imagine this however, in the relatively near future much of your automobile’s body and interior could essentially be made from compounds from bananas or pineapples. I’m not kidding.

An intriguing report from scientists in Brazil who are testing new fiber compounds from these and other plants to create a new hybrid of automotive plastics. It’s not just change for change sake either even though of course the production of such compounds would be sustainable, but the new plastics are also testing to be lighter and stronger as well. The findings were presented at the National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society and really do hold the potential to completely change manufacturing techniques not just in the auto industry but in many processes that use strong plastics. They are collectively known as nano-cellulose fibers and while current equivalents being used typically are made from petroleum or natural gas the nano-cellulose compounds would be completely renewable. The leader of the study Alcides Leão, Ph.D adds:

“The properties of these plastics are incredible. They are light, but very strong — 30 per cent lighter and 3-to-4 times stronger. We believe that a lot of car parts, including dashboards, bumpers, side panels, will be made of nano-sized fruit  fibers in the future. For one thing, they will help reduce the weight of cars and that will improve fuel economy.”

The testing is providing very impressive results in addition to the reduction in weight and gains in strength these reinforced plastics also are proving to be more resistant to damage from spilled gasoline, water and heat. If it all sounds a little like science fiction, it’s not at all as the researchers estimate that this new product could be in the marketplace within the next 2 to 3 years. The study shows that plant fibers with their natural composition of cellulose are perfectly suited to such applications, while we’ve long benefited from the application of the more common compound to make paper and cardboards these smaller fibers have an ideal composition for this use.

The team report that it is using the stems and leaves from pineapples rather than wood to make the ideal source for the creation although other species such as agave, coconut and banana plants also provide excellent solutions. The Palm products are inserted into the equivalent of a pressure cooker and then added chemicals create a mixture that over heating cycles will ultimately resemble a powder. Although the process is expensive it will take one pound of nano-cellulose to generate 100 pounds of the new lightweight plastic. At this point I’m relying on your scientific knowledge being much stronger than mine but it certainly sounds like a fascinating development. Leão also stated that although the initial testing is aimed toward automotive plastics and replacing them, future applications could include replacing certain steel or aluminium vehicle parts as well as numerous medical applications.