The plastic time bomb: Way out of the crisis:
Plastic substitute - cars made from flax fibers?
Manufacture of flax fiber
The range of a car depends largely on its weight. Therefore, the proportion of plastics will continue to increase in the future. A paradoxical situation because well over 95 percent of all plastics are currently petroleum-based. To build the cars of the future really sustainably, a lot more plastic from renewable raw materials would have to be used.
Such plastics are researched at the Fraunhofer Institute in Hanover. Wood, hemp or flax fibers can be considered as possible substitutes. The scientists are looking for a bio-based raw material that can be processed like the extremely stable and light, but crude oil-based carbon fiber. Initial tests show that the resilience of the flax fibers is sufficient to replace carbon fibers in some areas. The renewable flax fibers also have many good properties such as splinter-free breaking behavior. The material only develops its ultimate stability when additives and resins are injected at high pressure in the press. A small part of oil-based components is still indispensable.
There is still a decades-long research lead in conventional plastics. It will still take a while, for example, until a door blank for a car can be made entirely from renewable raw materials. The question of ecological benefits remains: The cultivation of plants for plastics is in competition with the production of food. Unless agricultural waste products such as wood scraps or wheat bran are used for plastic production. However, research on these materials is just beginning.