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Ford Motor Co.
A prototype arm rest made in part with retired U.S. currency is seen at top, along with finely cut and crushed pieces of currency.
Ford has trumpeted its use of recycled materials in its cars in recent years – from soybeans in seat cushions to blue-jean material as a sound dampener. Ahead of Earth Day on Sunday, it’s talking now about making some parts from millions of dollars in U.S. currency.
Ex-currency, that is.
"It's a very large waste stream that's untapped right now," Ford plastics researcher Ellen Lee told msnbc.com.
Prototypes of arm rests and interior trays have been done, and the research has included testing bills to make sure any residue -- "If you know what I mean," Ellen says -- doesn't affect production. To be clear, those residues are micro-organisms from bodily fluids as well as drug compounds.
The bills "should be totally fine," she adds, because the high temperatures used to turn them into fiber fillers for plastic parts take care of any residue.
The move toward "biomaterial" like currency, and away from harsher material like glass fiber, isn't just about the environment. A key factor is the rising cost of petroleum, which is used not just to run vehicles but to make the plastics in them.
Ford notes that 300 pounds of plastic go into a typical Ford vehicle.
"Finding alternative sources for materials is becoming imperative as petroleum prices continue to rise and traditional, less sustainable materials become more expensive," John Viera, Ford's sustainability director, said in a statement.
At the Center for Automotive Research, a think tank in Ford's backyard, the biomaterials research by Ford and others, including major chemical companies, hasn't gone unnoticed.
It's about "petroleum independence," CAR President Jay Baron told msnbc.com. "They're positioning themselves for the future in case petroleum prices double."
Getting costs down is still a factor, he added, but "the cost will come down. You will see more and more biomaterials in the car."
Actor and environmentalist Adrien Grenier joined Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford on "Morning Joe" to discuss a new documentary series and an educational program to inspire dialogue about the environment.
Ellen says Ford hasn't calculated the overall savings from natural fibers, but the company did note that using soybeans saves it 5 million pounds of petroleum each year.
As for the retired currency, should it pass further testing it will join these unusual natural materials now in 2012 Ford vehicles:
- Blue jeans in Fusions: Those models have the equivalent of about two pairs of blue jeans as material to dampen road, wind and powertrain noise. The material is basically denim scraps from the clothing industry.
- Soybeans in all models: Every vehicle built in North America uses soybeans in seat cushions and seat backs. Most also use soybeans in headrests.
- Kenaf in Escapes: Fiber from the plant is used in hidden material that reinforces the arm rest behind the door.
- Scrap cotton in Escapes: Ten pounds of scrap cotton from clothing go into the Escape's dashboard.
- Plastic bottles in Escapes: The equivalent of 25 recycled 20-ounce bottles is used in the Escape's carpet.
- Plastic bottles in Focus Electrics: This all-electric car uses a wood-fiber-based material in its doors and recycled plastic bottles in its seat fabric.
- Straw in Flexes: Wheat straw used in the storage compartment of the vehicle's third row.
- Yarn in Tauruses: The interior suede is made from 100 percent recycled yarns.
That's not to say that every material, or experiment for that matter, pans out.
"Labs full of the failed attempts still exist" at the company's R&D campus, Ford notes.
In the case of soybeans, early versions of seat cushions containing the plant "were fraught with problems," it says, including "strong odor."
So when might we be driving around with cash in our cars? Ford says there's a ready supply: 8,000 to 10,000 pounds of retired paper currency are shredded daily – more than 3.6 million pounds annually. The shredded money is either compressed into bricks and deposited in landfills, or burned. "It seems very promising," Ellen says. "It just needs some time for us to do our due diligence before it gets into vehicles."
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Leave a Comment:
The automakers should have been thinking about this a long time ago. The technology was there way back when but at least it's starting to happen now.
I can just imagine some guy in the supply room trying to put the bills back together.
Big deal!
BMW has been making car parts out of money for years, at least I assume that's why they are so expensive to repair.
it seems extremely obvious to me, but what about HEMP?
just open Henry Fords old playbook, it's already tested out and ready to roll...
420 pun not intended, but worked nicely anyway :-)
hahaha dirtydog that would take a LOT of tape.
Yeah Jessica, go smoke another 1; U haven't passed out yet......
(She'll have something hateful 2 say-like she always does; Wait 4 it...........)
henry ford used soybeans in his cars in experaments back in the day inside the doors and made parts like trunk lids. and as for hemp heres what happend to that,,,,The reason that Hemp is illegal in America today is because the main families in
America (Masons), the Harrimans and Rockefellers (Standard Oil), the Whitneys
(Eli Whitney-Cotton Gin), Dupont (Chemicals in wood pulp processing and cotton
pesticides), and Hearst (Newspapers, Media) find it more profitable to sell us
unnecessary chemicals, unneeded dug-up petroleum oil, immune system destroying
pharmaceuticals, and axed up trees cut into real thin slices, all at
over-inflated prices and at the expense of our health and living environment.
For these companies, the real problem is that one cannot patent a natural
plant. Almost everything produced in America by large corporations is exported
for sale on the world markets. The total value of oil, petrochemicals, and
pharmaceutical sales totals hundreds of billions of dollars. However, with the
availability of over 50,000 new products and the necessity to manufacture them,
America would be a much richer nation if the farmers and the average citizen
were allowed to grow this valuable crop
Jessica-1170252 post 1.3
Jessica your absolutely right hemp would be be a great natural product for this purpose. Hemp is a valuble commodity on the world market, even Canada grows it. Unfortunately here in America IT"S ILLEGAL. Hemp was made illegal in the 1920s by a Republican led congress obsessed with the so called EVILS of cannabis. BTW Hemp and Cannabis are related but are totally different, the THC content in hemp is extremely low, smoking it would be like smoking straw.
Hemp was made legal again during WW-2 under a Democratic congress because of it's many uses and it did contribute greatly to the war effort. Then of course it was made illegal again under Republicans after the war.... Why you ask; Because as usual the GOP rewards anybody with a fat check book, in this case chemical companies that produced nylon. You see, hemp was competition the chemical companies wanted to get rid of and of course since Republicans in the fourties were just as corrupt as they are now they took the corporate bribes and made hemp illegal once more. BTW up until the 1920s hemp was one of the biggest cash crops in the economy because of it's natural strength and durability and it was used to make clothing, canvas and many other comsumer products.......... But it's still illegal to grow it in America, go figure.
P.S. Even George Washington grew hemp at Mount Vernon.
And all this help makes car and car parts expensive and less durable then 30 years. Get in a minor fender bender ( now they split they dont bend) and it will cost you 2k to have it fixed. hope you dont get into a real accident, instead of needing to change a bumper and maybe a fender now your car needs 12k worth of work unless its totaled. Give me a car or truck from the early 70's. they are dependable, easy to work on, parts are very affordable, and if you hit a modern car you can wipe off your bumper while they call the tow truck. Biggest mistake I ever made was buying a 2007 chevy cobalt, talk about what has to be the worst car ever made.
When are we, as a country going to loosen up and start using hemp fibers again. One of the strongest natural fibers, easily grown and harvested, and thoroughly tested.
And......the oil from the seeds can be used in many applications, including biofuel.
The drug will never be controlled as long as forbidding it makes it seem more desirable.
If the plant was grown and used widely, the drug use would fall off over a period of time.
My opinion, of course.
It was good enough for George Washington, it ought to do for the rest of us.
What makes the hemp argument even more asinine is that marijuana and hemp are totally different cousins of the same plant. You could smoke a ton of hemp and get nothing but a headache, there is more THC in a gram of marijuana. A hemp plant can easily grow to 15-20' in a season with minimal fertilizer.
All the reasons above supporting hemp are valid and accurate. In addition hemp requires very little water and has restorative qualities that rejuvenate the soil it's grown in.
...but paper producers are sooooo anti hemp
Ford will never be "cash strapped" again!
whats new? any auto is cash rich in parts?
This is a good idea! Pluss, it keeps some of the material out of the dumps. Its a win/win!
Chefaz,
Ford has been working on these types of products for years. It is only recently due to the high cost of oil that it has become practical.
Other companies are doing it as well.
The car itself is one of the most recycled products that we use every day.
Jim Nordblom- I share your opinion but unfortunately money overpowers reason in our legislative system. The liquor and pharma industries ( the legal recreational drug companies ) will never permit the legalization of hemp in any form. They have spent millions and millions in lobbying against that legalization and will continue to do so. As long as our politicians get paid for keeping it illegal, it will stay that way. The hemp plant, cultivated by humans for over 3,000 years, is one of the most useful and easily grown of any fibrous plant. We ignore it's benefits at our own peril.
Take worthless money to make a worthless car works for me.
Quality surely isnt job 1 at Ford anymore.
So you equate new materials and technological advances with low quality??? If luddites like you ran Ford the cars would still be made of wood.
Honestly you could not give me a FORD.
Fords are $hit vehicles.
I guess they took the saying "Made of money" literally. Cool. Normally people just use their old, out dated money to pay for stuff; but this could work too.
The nuns are a slave lobor force for the papal church and need to remain as such. If they start supporting women's rights they might start supporting their own. The papists won't marry priests because it's less expensive to support a priest than it is to support a priest and his family. They are not about to ordain women because they might have to spend time among women. This would undermine their prepubescent, misogynistic, silly boys club. The money considerations take priority over any other. They contrive some sort of "theological" reason later to justify their twisted reasoning.
Wrong thread Daniel. This story is about recycling old money to make products.
Heh, Americans are as dumb as they come ... LOL!!
Imagine a coke-sniffing police dog...
Ah, that would be an issue. On the other hand the cartels will be buying these cars in bulk, which is good for the economy, because if your entire car smells like crack you might just get away with transporting the drugs.
Ford will have to make sure that the car parts don't set off the dogs. Perhaps FORD will soon stand for something else besides Found On Road Dead.
Free Of Recycled Drugs.
Fix Or Repair Daily, Forgive Our Ridiculous Decision, Found On Richmond Dump, F&%ked Over Rebuilt Dodge, On a quiet night you can hear a ford rusting.
Half the people in the world are starving as we brag about how good we are for using corn for gas and soy beans for car parts!?
Hemp is better.
Henry Ford experimented with car parts made from soybeans he grew. He was a conservationist and railed against waste and I'm sure he would approve of what the company he started is doing with this.
no he made car parts from feakin hemp omg get the facts.
Hemp and soybeans aside, Henry Ford also designed the engine to run on the waste products of heating oil and kerosene refining. This useless mix of chemicals called gasoline could be had for practically nothing and did not require the high compression that diesel engines running soybean and peanut oils did.
Being a member of the Catholic Church means first and formost to be in relationship with Jesus Christ and following his teachings under the authority of the Pope. I am more concerned with those who want the church to follow them!
Wrong thread, dear.
Being a member of the Catholic Church I don't understand why your statement has anything to do to the subject.
If the Pope and nuns aren't driving Fords you people are on the WRONG thread...
Don't let the Nanny State find out that some parts are made of soy and other plants. The cost of the warning labels, (for those allergic), and increased liability insurance will be more than negate any savings.
I don't really care what they make their cars out of I just wish they test these parts so they don't fall apart a few years after you buy the car. That aggravates me when their interior materials don't stand up to every day use or the weather. They should know what materials work best and have the longest live spam. So stop it with the earthy crunchy Sh*t. Try to make a car that lasts and stop experimenting with my money.
Sand,
The only money being experimented with here is waste money and Ford Motor Company's money. No tax dollars. Product development is what it's called.
man, id love some of those shredded money bricks, im sure theyd be awesome as a fuel brick. do they sell em?
From The US Bureau of Engraving and Printing: http://www.moneyfactory.gov/faqlibrary.html
Does the BEP make shredded currency available to the public?
Shredded currency is available in small amounts through the BEP. Small amounts, as pre-packaged souvenirs, are available for sale in the Washington, DC and Fort Worth visitor centers. Larger amounts of shredded currency for use in artistic or commercial purposes will need to be obtained from the Federal Reserve Bank; and written approval from the Chief, Office of Compliance, is required before the Federal Reserve Bank will consider honoring currency residue requests. Treasury approval will be based upon the following requirements.
Requestors must agree to the above conditions and state intended use in a written request to the following address:
Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Attn: Chief, Office of Compliance
Shredded Currency Request
14th and C Streets, SW
Room 321-A
Washington, DC 20228
Please include your contact information and allow 21 days for a response. The Department of the Treasury reserves the right, at its own discretion, to revoke any approval granted if the above conditions are violated.
Unbelievable no mention of HEMP!!!!! Legalize industrial hemp so that farmers can grow it! It would create thousands of jobs and houses and cars can be made from it, in fact FORD made the first car from Hemp and the diesel engine ran on methanol from hemp. This article is absurd that no mention of hemp was made! good grief!
I think this is great now only if they could figure out a way to freeze dry and grind up people and turn them into car parts. Some one like Lady Ga Ga is a good example of a person that not much of us would miss and if they could turn her into a head rest or a piece of carpet I am sure that the public would love it and sales would go through the roof. They could also turn Roseann Bar into a bumper and Steve Tyler into a dipstick. Gee the list is long, so many possibilities out there especially when you think of all the different body types. that's it, I have made up my mind I am booking a flight to Detroit tonight so I can be there for Monday morning business to show GM or Ford the Power point presentation that I am going to get started on this afternoon.
Steve Tyler as a dipstick? Nah that's Sarah Palin's job. Rush, Bill'O , Hannity and Beck would make some nice driver and passenger airbags as well.
I wonder if it is possible to extract the ink from these parts?
Don't matter what they are made of Ford Sucks
Spoken like a true azzhole!
GM already beat FORD on "recycling our money" and using it on the"inside" with all that "bailout" money !!!