Pimp Your Gas Guzzler With Soy Seats
Not only do cars consume lots of petroleum, they are also made of it, especially the interior. The dash, the seats and the paneling are all often made of petroleum-based polymers. But Ford is taking a step to reduce the amount of oil needed to build its cars by making the seat cushions out of soy-based foam. But don’t worry, you can still get those soy-made seats covered in not-so-eco-friendly but oh-so-luxurious leather.
The soy foam is being incorporated into Ford’s Mustang, F-150 pickup, Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator SUV, perhaps the least fuel-efficient lineup that Ford could have put together. This announcement coincides with Ford’s new plan to cut the emissions of its U.S. and European fleets by 30 percent by 2020. However, this cut isn’t much better than the new CAFE standards and is “less altruistic than it is compliant.“
But it’s easy to point out all the things a company isn’t doing. We’re glad to see Ford experimenting with bio-polymers. Ford estimates it will have 45,500 vehicles with soy-foam seats on the road by the end of this year. The overall program should abate some 605,000 pounds of CO2 emission annually, the company says. But we’re dubious about the emissions claims involving soy, as land use greatly impacts emissions. It takes about 1 pound of soybean oil, or 5 1/2 pounds of soybeans, to make the seats of one Mustang, Ford says.
Why the first application of this soy foam wasn’t in some of Ford’s hybrid models is baffling. But Detroit does seem to be making more and more moves indicating that it “gets” this whole “climate change thing.” So the next time you see a dude in a Navigator, give him a thumbs-up for doing his part to save the environment.
Great post, but I’m one of those people in the “give credit where it’s due” camp. It’s true, Ford has a long way to go before claiming any shade of “green” status, but they’re trying. They have to - their investors demand it. I think if we give them positive feed-back when they do something good, maybe - just maybe - they’ll be more likely to continue the trend.
Naturally, only time will tell. Until then, good job on implementing this idea, Ford. Keep it up.
I believe those three models are Ford’s top sellers in each category (SUV, Pickup, Car) so it might be used to either assuage guilty consciences from the otherwise non-green nature of the cars, or it could be used to get people to say “Hey, these soy-based chairs are actually pretty comfy!” But really, I’m just grasping at straws to come up with an explanation for their rationale here.
Good article by the by
The fact that they are the top selling models means there will be more soy seats, which, ostensibly is a good thing. It is a shame, however, as the author points out, that we have gotten stuck on the biomass thing, since as recent studies showed with corn ethanol, its a losing game. Soy can’t be THAT much better, since it is a food crop…
Also, the guilty-conscience assuagement is a problem… if John Q. Navigator driver thinks he has done a good thing, then we have a problem.
What, pray tell, is un-eco-friendly about leather seats?
A renewable resource that only offends vegans. That leaves a sizable chunk of folks who continue on the way we evolved - as omnivores.
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I’m with Rory on this one. 5 1/2 pounds of soybeans doesn’t count for much when you consider the countless amount of petroleum that goes into the gas tank of a Navigator over the life of the vehicle. And yet you know people are going to take it into consideration.
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