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Science

Biodegradable Car Parts From Grass 25

Posted by timothy from the plant-bamboo-in-your-enemies'-yards dept.
An unnamed reader writes: "The CBC is reporting that scientists from the University of Warwick in England are working to develop biodegradable cars using Elephant grass." Elephant grass, for those unblessed with it, is a quick-growing, low-maintenance woody plant akin to bamboo. The idea of cheaply growing eco-friendly parts to make durable goods certainly appeals.
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Biodegradable Car Parts From Grass

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  • Becareful as you pull into the garage to watch out for the lawnmower. Oh, and you might want to move the shears out of the way too.
  • Reminds me of the classic SNL parody - "the little car that's ma-ade out of clay..."

  • Old Idea.. (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    See Cheech & Chong's "Up In Smoke", circa. late 70's.
  • And here I was getting my hopes up about being able to go into AutoZone and buying a hemp carborator for my VW Microbus.
  • The environmental Nazis claim the USA is a polluting nation, but with technology like this, we have demonstrated quite clearly how we will dominate the market for 'green' automobiles in the future. BMW and Mercedes and Honda have nothing like this. (Quite funny when you consider how Europeans are always whining about the environment) !!
  • The environmental Nazis claim the USA is a polluting nation, but with technology like this, we have demonstrated quite clearly how we will dominate the market for 'green' automobiles in the future.

    Um, you do realize that this is an article in *Canada* reporting the development of this technology in *England*?

    IHBT, I know...
  • My horse can smoke your car.

    Galactic Geek
  • as long as Sgt. Stedenko doesn't set it afire, I'm cool with it.

  • And we have more idiots per capita than any other country in the world! :)

    As a pro-enviroment person, thanks for posting your rebuttal. It made me laugh out loud.

    John

  • Ok, grass car parts, very nice (Score:3)

    by ackthpt ( 218170 ) on Tuesday March 06, 2001 @12:48PM (#380825) Homepage Journal
    Reminded me of stories I've heard about ceramic engines (ok, where are they, hmmm? And I don't mean the aluminum silicon blocks) and plastic engine parts. All I've seen so far are carbon valve springs.

    I suppose if they adopted this technology, Detroit could get a variation on it's nickname... Mow-town.

    --

  • The environmental Nazis claim the USA is a polluting nation, but with technology like this, we have demonstrated quite clearly how we will dominate the market for 'green' automobiles in the future. BMW and Mercedes and Honda have nothing like this.

    Actually BMW has done (and may still be doing) research on hydrogen power, and Honda has the Insight, which is a gasoline/electric hybrid.
  • Elephant-grass filler for plastic parts is fine, but the reporter seems to think that this is going to lead to biodegradable cars.

    If that happens, it's going to be for political reasons, not practical ones. There are a few inconvenient facts that environmental "reporters" can't seem to get their minds around, and it throws a monkey wrench into these schemes:

    1. What matters isn't the manufacturing cost or disposal cost, but the life-cycle cost.
    2. If energy consumption is the measure, most of the energy used by a vehicle isn't involved in making it, but in pushing it around for 200,000 km.
    3. The energy cost of pushing a car depends a lot on its weight.
    4. Wood is heavier and weaker than metal.
    5. Therefore, a wooden car will use more energy per unit of distance than a metal car.
    The old "small earth" mantra goes "Reduce, re-use, recycle". Metal recycles very well, and a stronger and lighter structure reduces energy use. A wood-filled bio-polymer car that weighs more than its competition, can't be recycled, probably won't be fit to be re-used, and increases energy consumption instead of decreasing it. It's superficially appealing, but even a cursory look at the environmental consequences proves it's a loser.
    --
    spam spam spam spam spam spam
    No one expects the Spammish Repetition!
  • Wouldn't parts made of dead matter attract rot and / or insects? I mean, for parts to be totally biodegradable you couldn't use synthetic varnish or sealant (not being a botanist, I don't know if there are naturally occuring biodegradable sealants, preservatives perhaps). Actually the basic idea of 'biodegradable' means that eventually any item made of this matter would be consumed by bacteria, so much for classic cars eh.

    -----

  • Considering the growth in dumping cars and getting new ones, it might just prove a great boon. But perhaps these cars may turn out expensive, since the grass would have to be tempered so as not to be eaten by insects or get bio-degraded before time or perhaps catch fire with internal heating or any such weird reasons.
  • just don't park this baby near a pile of mulch
  • haven't you fools ever heard of Henry Ford's Hemp body car? here's a video of somebody swinging a sledgehammer at it and not even denting it.

    http://www.crrh.org/hemptv/misc_ford.html

    fueled by hemp too.
  • Elephant grass is Pennisetum Purpureum. Miscanthus is a different species, Miscanthus x giganteus. They resemble each other, but are sometimes confused. See http://bioenergy.ornl.gov/papers/miscanthus/miscan thus.html for more information.

  • Ok, now I know I could could patch up my car now with some Bondo....but what am I supposed to use on a Bio-car? Guacamole?
  • I think Cheech and Chong made one of these also.

    http://www.dvdfile.com/software/review/dvd-video _2 /cheechchong_upinsmoke.html
  • http://www.hempcar.org/

  • Er, are you being ironic or moronic?

    This has nothing to do with the US, and in any case, it's hardly a new idea. Ever heard of the Trabant? [ign.com]

  • Elephant grass ... is a quick-growing, low-maintenance woody plant akin to bamboo

    I've got loads of stuff that's made of wood in my house/garage/office, and it ain't rotting. Ok, you've got to keep it dry, but that doesn't mean sealing/varnishing the part itself, just containing it.

    I had a wooden car once. Wooden wheels, wooden windows, wooden engine - wooden go!

  • In their Hemp-mobile...

  • This is the real deal, sweetie: http://hempcar.org/ [hempcar.org]

    (Shameless plug for my dear Reverend Al.)


    "I'm not a bitch, I just play one on /."

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