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Biocomposites are nothing new to the industry. Henry Ford famously used them in enamels, paints and molded plastic parts. In 1941, Ford unveiled a demonstration car with soy-based plastic body panels. But biocomposites have remained typically hidden from the consumer's view by their discrete placement in door liners and undertrays. But that's changing, especially as eco-aware increasingly translates to premium trims. BMW's 2017 i3 plug-in hybrid is a prime example. The vehicle literally places its eucalyptus wood fber front and center on its dashboard as a lid for the glove box. According to the automaker, the wood is mainly grown in Europe and comes from "100 percent certifed, responsible forestry management." No paint, no dye and no bleach products have prettied it up. There's also liberal use of kenaf, of the hibiscus family, for large portions of the instrument and door trim panels; it's spread across large surfaces within the i3, inter- woven with naturally tanned leather. (The inner lining of the trunk lid and parts of the door trim in the 2016 BMW 7 Series also are made from kenaf ). The drive toward lightweighting vehicles also plays to the strengths of biocomposites, as natural fbers are essentially hollow and can be as much as 20 to 40 percent lighter, depending on the application. Natural fbers also have sound-deadening advantages and essentially act as humidity regulators. They absorb moisture during high humidity and release it in more arid conditions. Those qualities make natural fbers, especially hemp, popular as a fller material for insulation in large buildings. The global natural fber composites market is forecast to grow at a compounded annual rate of 8.2 percent from 2015 to 2020. This is driven, in large part, by the construction and automotive industries. Some notable advances and program developments that may be fueling that growth in years to come: • In 2013 French supplier Faurecia SA created bio-injection molded structural parts, using its NAFILean (Natural Fibers for Lean Injection Design) process to produce door panel inserts for the Peugeot 308. The same year, it supplied panel inserts made of compressed spruce wood for Mercedes- Benz S-Class. Using that material, called LignoLite, Faurecia shaped portions of the vehicle's instrument panel with weight savings of 45 percent, according to the company. In 2014, Faurecia premiered a BioMat plastic, a hemp/resin matrix containing 65 percent bio-based resin, which it will ofer in 2018 for 2020 model year vehicles. And in 2018, Faurecia says it will ofer BioMat made with 100 percent resin from agricultural waste. • Toyota has been using bio-based plastics for more than a decade. They're found in the seat cushions in the Toyota Prius, Corolla, Matrix and RAV4, and in the Lexus RX 350 and CT 200h. The company says it is assessing several bio-materials to determine if they're good fts for global production, while meeting safety and performance stan- dards. But the company is hoping to have more infuence beyond its feet. Toyota is working with SAE's International Green Technology Systems Group to characterize and classify bio-based materials. • Ford lays claim to being the frst automaker to introduce soy-based foam in seat cushions and seat backs in 2007. Ford says soy foam is now in every vehicle it sells in North America. • In 2014, timber giant Weyerhaeuser teamed up with Johnson Controls to create a tree-based alternative to fber- glass in the foor console armrest substrate for the Lincoln MKX. The collaboration was signifcant for two reasons. First, Weyerhaeuser's Cellulose Reinforced Polypropylene, sold under the name THRIVE, is 6 percent lighter than fberglass, according to the companies. The fberglass part replaced with the timber substrate is used as a structural piece located within the center console armrest. If the technology can be transferred to larger parts, that means larger weight decreases. Secondly, unlike soy-based foam, CRP's applications apply to exterior as well as interior uses, including under the hood in places requiring blow molded shapes, such as battery trays. THE POTENTIAL Seven years ago, Kerry Kirwan, head of Sustainable Materials and Manufacturing at the Warwick University Manufacturing Research Group, lead a team of researchers that created a Formula 3 racing car with non-traditional materials: body Ford estimates fve-million plastic bottles, otherwise bound for landflls, will be reused to adorn the seats in the current generation F-150. SUSTAINABILITY 34