Baylor University researchers now have a technology to use coconut fibre as a replacement for synthetic polyester fibres in compression moulded composites. Their goal is to use the fibres to make car parts.
Researchers at Baylor University have developed a new way to transform coconut husks into automotive interiors.
They say that it is possible to make trunk liners, floorboards and car-door interior covers using fibres from the outer husks of coconuts, replacing the synthetic polyester fibres typically used in composite materials.
“Why coconuts? That’s the first thing people ask,” the Washington Times quoted engineering professor Walter Bradley, who is leading the research, as saying.
“We knew coconuts were abundant — about 50 billion grown a year. But 96% of those coconuts are grown by poor farmers, not big plantations. We wanted to figure out a way to make things better for them, to create a viable new market for them,” Bradley added.
Bradley said that the farmers, an estimated 11 million around the world, make about $500 a year. If the coconut car interiors gain traction, their incomes would triple, he added.
The “mechanical properties” of coconut fibres are as good as or better than synthetic or polyester fibres. They also are less expensive and the stuff of the greenest dreams. “They’re better for the environment because the coconut husks would have otherwise been thrown away. Coconuts also do not burn well or emit toxic fumes, which are crucial in passing 10 safety-performance tests required for commercial applications,” Bradley was quoted as saying.
Various organisations in the United States are giving perks to hybrid and green cars that include parking benefits.
An increasing number of offices, hotels and others are giving drivers of hybrids free or reduced-cost parking or reserved spots closer to entrances, similar to those for the disabled or for pregnant women. They are following at least a dozen cities, which introduced such perks in 2004.
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