Ford Fights Climate Change with Tree-Inspired Carbon-Capturing Approach

#Ford is committed to reducing our planetary impact. Watch how we’re testing making vehicle plastics from CO2.https://t.co/YkInvj7j6T

— Ford Drive Green (@FordDriveGreen) May 17, 2016

Here's the situation in a nutshell:

There's this thing called the carbon cycle that you probably learned about in a science class. Carbon dioxide is the fourth most common gas in the air we breathe (behind nitrogen, oxygen, and argon). Plants draw CO₂ out of the atmosphere, stripping the two oxygen molecules off of it, and building branches, leaves, and roots out of the remaining carbon molecules.

Eventually, the plant dies, and some of the carbon returns to the air as it decomposes.

The carbon cycle on the surface of the planet was fairly stable, with plants and animals absorbing the same amount of carbon as they released to the air. Then, us humans started taking carbon that was buried deep underground for millions of years, and burning it, releasing CO₂ that hadn't been part of the carbon cycle since dinosaur days.

This may be causing some problems.

So, how do we put the extra carbon back underground before the climate becomes cretaceous? One idea is to simply plant a ton of trees.

Or, if you are Ford Motor Company, and want to save the planet with more of a mad-scientist flair, you can replicate what trees do to make vehicle materials.

Ford is working with the New York-based company Novomer to develop plastics and foams for seating and under-hood applications made out of captured CO₂. Novomer collects CO₂ emissions from manufacturing plants, then uses a chemical process based on the Calvin Cycle used by trees to remove the oxygen. The carbons are linked together into durable polymers, which can be utilized inside new Ford vehicles.

"Novomer is excited by the pioneering work Ford has completed with our Converge® CO₂-based polyols," said Novomer chief business officer, Peter Shepard. "It takes bold, innovative companies such as Ford to enable new technologies to become mainstream products."

These carbon-sequestering materials are set to go into production vehicles, which you may find for sale in East Windsor at Haldeman Ford, within the next five years, Ford researchers say. The automaker claims they could reduce petroleum use by over 600 million pounds per year.

"Ford is working aggressively to lower its environmental impact by reducing its use of petroleum-based plastic and foam," said Debbie Mielewski, Ford senior technical leader of sustainability. "This technology is exciting because it is contributing to solving a seemingly insurmountable problem – climate change."