Plastic on the Way Out: Soy Beans on the Way In?

The little pea-sized soybean could eventually join switch grass and corn kernels as promising alternatives to help curb America's addiction to foreign oil.

While the folks at Southfield-based Lear Corp. won't pitch the idea that the main ingredient in tofu could cut the U.S. need for oil imports, they did announce Thursday they've reached the next step in developing car seat foam and interior materials using soy-based oil.

"We're ready to provide this product right now," said Ash Galbreath, director of foam and comfort engineering at Lear.

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johannas - 12/8/2006 10:26:28 AM

+3 Boost

Maybe soon they could replace all the plastic with soy-based materials. That'd be cool.

Autoegr525 - 12/8/2006 11:03:52 AM

+3 Boost

must have a lovely new car smell.

Shayc - 12/8/2006 1:04:29 PM

+3 Boost

Henry Ford was promoting soy-based plastics for just about everything in a car (he even proposed ethanol fuel at the same time) as early as the 1920s. He had a prototype car built in 1942. I wonder why soy-foam seats (and other soy-based plastics) are only starting to make it to market a mere 60 years after their feasibility was demonstrated. Was the development/manufacturing cost prohibitive? Did the products have a short lifespan? Actually, that would just help with planned obsolesence. Something tells me the petroleum industry has something to do with this.

woood - 12/8/2006 10:34:33 PM

+1 Boost

Shayc

Petroleum industry definitely had something to do with this because in the 1920s, it didn't seem like the worls is going to be having so much problems with oil 90 years later. Polution, Environment concerns, global warming, etc. Henry Ford was a really innovator. It would be life saving if there's someone out there like him these days.

bignose996 - 12/9/2006 11:59:42 AM

0 Boost

This is great news if you're a bunny rabbit in the Denver area. Currently, the bunnies are confined to only eating the oil pressure sensor wires on Audis, because of the delicious goodness of the soy covered wires. They are excited that their menu can expand.