Ford and Lear Corporation are taking another leap forward in sustainable technology. For that’s with the introduction of new head restraint foam that has 25 percent of the polyol replaced with soy.
Biofoam
Seventy-five percent of Ford’s North American vehicles feature bio-foam in the head restraints. That’s including the Ford F-150, Taurus, Explorer and Fusion. All Ford Motor Company vehicles built in North America use bio-foam content. Especially in the seat cushions and backs.
Ford is continuously looking for new ways to expand our use of bio-based foam. For the head restraints are a perfect example. That was said Debbie Mielewski, technical leader, Ford Plastics Research. For it’s a new location with higher soy content. We’re not stopping at head restraints, either. There are still many other applications in which traditional foam can be converted to biofoam that’s based on soy. All to foam on vehicles. I mean such as energy-absorption areas. In addition to steering wheels and armrests.
Soybased
The extended use of soy foam results from the continued research collaboration between Ford and Lear; Ford first used sustainable soybean oil-derived seating foam on the 2008 Mustang. The collaboration also generated the recent complete conversion of all Lear North American Ford seating cushion foam to Lear SoyFoam™.
24 Percent Petroleum
SoyFoam is up to 24 percent more renewable than petroleum-based biofoam. The biomaterial has helped Ford reduce its annual petroleum oil usage by more than 3 million pounds. The use of SoyFoam also has helped Ford reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by more than 15 million pounds. SoyFoam also can provide a 67 percent reduction in volatile organic compound emissions.
“Our success with the introduction of sustainable products confirms customer acceptance of the technology and the need for green automotive interior innovation,” said Ash Galbreath, director, Advanced Materials and Comfort Engineering for Lear Corporation. “Lear’s advancement of ecological breakthroughs is intended both to reduce product sensitivity to petroleum raw material price fluctuations and lessen our impact on the environment.”
Source: Ford Motor Company
