Natural solutions to man-made problems
Canadian farmers used to burn wheat straws until Ford found an innovative way to use this waste material in its production process. They are now using these wheat straws to blend it into plastic feature for its Ford Flex, thereby reducing petroleum usage.
They have also started using waste plastic bottles and other recycled materials and convert it into fiber named Repreve, to use it to cover the seats of the F150, Focus Electric, Fusion, Explorer, and Edge.
So what is next in their list of save the earth campaign?
Tokay gecko
The Tokay gecko is a lizard and Ford is actively trying to mimic its toes to create adhesives. A lizard can easily work its way on glass, walls, and pretty much any other surface without any other external support or help. Now Ford is looking to study and create an adhesive that will help them boost their recycling rates by 10 percent. Ford will then go on to use this adhesive to make sense of the foams and plastics that is left over after a car is stripped of its metal frame.
“If we could separate it, if we could identify different streams within it, we would stand a much better chance of being able to utilize them for higher-end applications,” said Debbie Mielewski, the senior technical leader for plastics and sustainability research at Ford.
After a car is dismantled, the steel and other metal can be resold or reused easily, however the foam, plastic, rubber, and fiber is pretty much useless. These left over waste is also known as shredder waste.
Partnership
Ford has recently announced its partnership with Proctor and Gamble as well as Biomimicry Institute, a non-profit organization that works on solutions that are inspired from nature. Ford together with its new partners is looking into ways to create an adhesive that will allow the automobile giant to use it in their manufacturing process.
Will Ford soon make a car that can climb walls? Time will only tell.
Geckos have remarkable toe pads that are made from billions of miniature tips generating weak molecular attractions, and this allows this remarkable creature to be able to support hundreds of pounds of weight, theoretically. Imagine magnifying this!
Innovation at is finest
Geckos are the new unofficial mascots for the biomimicry field and other manufacturers have already joined the race. Ford is not the first company to pay attention to geckos though. Researchers at the University of Massachusetts developed Geckskin Adhesives in the year 2012, and a group of researchers from Stanford University built Gecko inspired sticky pads. They were later used by a rather daring student to climb a glass wall. Geckos are receiving a lot of attention and for all the right reasons.
It is yet to be seen how these adhesives will change the industry, and where all this biomimicry solutions will lead us. The field of nature inspired designs is gaining momentum as researchers are turning back to Mother Nature for inspiration.
Perhaps Ford will come out with a flying car based on the motion of a bird’s flapping wings soon!
