Biodegradable Cars from Sugar Beet and Flax Fibers

Manufacturing Biodegradable cars from sugar beet and flax fibers represent an exciting innovation in sustainable automotive design, offering an eco-friendly alternative to traditional vehicles by utilizing renewable, plant-based materials.

Having eco-friendly or green cars and completely decomposable cars are entirely different concepts. The green vehicles are environment friendly and release lesser or no carbons but they are made of both recyclable and non-recyclable materials. The biodegradable cars are made of such materials which will be decomposed after their end-of-life cycle.

They are eco-friendly, economical and leave no recyclable or non-recyclable materials or substances thus having no harms to the environment at any stage.

Every year, vehicles that reach the end of their useful life end up as discarded vehicles. These vehicles are abandoned and stockpiled at scrap yards where they need to be properly processed for recovery of the reusable or recyclable materials or disposal of waste components.

Without proper processing, scrapping and recycling, the number of vehicles will be increasing year after year resulting in over-occupied landfills and in some cases dangerous as they often contain hazardous materials, like antifreeze substances and oils, which can be harmful to workers, residents and the environment.

Properly managing the discarded vehicles reduces risks to workers, public health and the environment, lowers disposal costs, saves landfill capacity and creates opportunities to recover valuable resources. In United States, over 15 million vehicles are recycled every year.

How Much of Automotive Materials are being Recycled Today

Automobiles are the No. 1 most recycled consumer products in the world. 75-80% of a car's material can be recycled and reused and remaining 20% are however recycled by local recyclers for manufacturing other materials for different other industries. Car manufacturers are now seeking 100% recyclable automobiles in coming years.

On the other hand, the drive for greater fuel efficiency has caused car manufacturers to make cars from aluminum and carbon fiber, as a lighter but having almost equal strength and alternative to steel. But these materials require some additional processes and about five times more energy to make. That means, energy saved during the driving stage is actually being spent during the production phase.

So, the idea behind a car with equal strength, less costly materials with zero waste and being more sustainable was left halfway through. It was this challenge that has led to the creation of a car to be built from natural fiber like flax, wood pulp, Bamboos and sugar beet to be precise which will be biodegradable o decomposable after its end-of-life stage.

That is why people will be driving bio-degradable cars in near future and saying goodbye to metal motors and hello to the hi-tech roadsters of the future being faster, cleaner, lighter and sleeker.

Lina - The World First Biodegradable Car

Lina is an innovation of a group of students from Eindhoven University of Technology Netherlands. The chassis, body and interior of the car are made from a resin derived from Flax combined with a bioplastic made entirely from sugar beets.

Flax Fibers

Flax fiber is extracted from the skin of the stem of Flax plant. In modern techniques, flax fiber is widely used in the automotive industry as a reinforcement material for various applications such as body, dashboard and interior door panels.

Flax fiber possesses several advantages, having good mechanical properties, long length, low density, high toughness, and strength. Flax fiber is highly versatile, with a considerable tensile and compressive strength of around 0.2 million psi to 0.175 million psi respectively.

Flax is cultivated in mainly in Western Europe (France, Belgium, and the Netherlands), Eastern Europe (Russia, Belarus, etc.), China, Egypt and Indian subcontinent.

Flax fiber composites have higher mechanical properties and can be recycled through industrial composting, converting them into a promising option for sustainable materials. It is a high strength and weight substance similar to fiberglass. However, the wheels and suspension systems of Lina are not yet made from bio-based materials.

Bioplastics - a Most Suitable Substitute of Plastic

The main problem with plastics is that they are used for a shorter period and after that are discarded. Hence, if not properly collected, this waste is deposited in landfills and accumulates in the environment, thus contaminating the different ecosystems of all living beings.

The United States, one of the world's biggest plastic makers, is in support of a global treaty calling for a reduction in how much new plastic is being produced each year. The U.S. generates more plastic waste than anywhere else in the world, affecting American rivers, coastlines, landscapes, and communities.

This crisis is apparent everywhere, from the cities to the countryside. While people don’t yet know the full impact of plastic pollution on human health, research increasingly shows that there is real cause for concern.

According to the report data, global plastic production reached $165 billion in 2022 of which a handsome quantity of 25% was disposed to landfills.

Consequently, a wide variety of studies are centered on the search for renewable materials with properties similar to plastic but that can be degraded easily after use, thus helping to reduce environmental contamination.

Sugar Beet

Bioplastics represent an environmentally friendly alternative to plastic. They have the advantage of being biobased, biodegradable or both, which means that they are a product obtained from biomass and they can be degraded by microorganisms into water and CO2.

Due to the increased accumulation of non-degradable plastic produced in the environment, the production of bioplastics from renewable materials has emerged in recent years.

Here, sugar beet pulp is evaluated as a potential raw material for the production of bioplastics. Sugar beet pulp is a by-product obtained in the sugar industry after sugar extraction from sugar beet, and it is mainly used for animal feed.

It has a varied composition and thus it has also been used to produce different value-added products such as methane, hydrogen, pectin, simple sugars, ethanol, lactic acid and succinic acid. Then there are different bioprocesses for production of bioplastics.

Environmental Benefits of Biodegradable Cars

 Another main benefit of Bio-based plastics is that they help to reduce the dependency on limited fossil resources, which are expected to increase in price significantly over the coming decades. Secondly, Bio-based plastics are not affected by oil price volatility like petroleum-based materials.

Additionally, they are helping in reducing emissions, tackling climate change and contributing to reduction of Greenhouse Gas emissions or can be carbon neutral that is why these substances are now turning to be a more reliable as compared to vinyl based plastics like PVC.

Consumer concerns over sustainability and global warming has led automakers to create vehicles powered by greener energy in order to reduce our collective carbon footprint. The use of Bio degradable components in manufacturing of automobiles is increasing and in coming years the car buyers will be having automotive with Zero Waste.