We're making changes to reduce our environmental footprint. In addition to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions, supporting conservation efforts and making more fuel-efficient vehicles, we're also improving the materials we use to build our vehicles.

Decreasing Dependence on Petroleum Products

Our researchers have made a major breakthrough with soy-based polyurethane foams. Polyurethane foams are used to make a vehicle's seat cushions, seat backs, armrests and head restraints.

While many in the auto industry are experimenting with a 5-percent soy-based polyol—one of the many ingredients used to create the foam used in cars and trucks—our researchers have formulated the chemistry to replace a staggering 40 percent of the standard petroleum-based polyol with a soy-derived material. And they are doing it without compromising the durability, stiffness or performance of the foam.

A Significant Advance in Soy-Based Foam

The average vehicle includes 30 pounds of foam made from petroleum products. We believe that by replacing 40 percent of the petroleum-based polyol with a soy-based polyol to create soy-based foam, we have the ability to make a significant impact on the environment, while reducing our dependence on imported petroleum.

In addition to reducing our dependence on foreign oil, the creation of soy polyols actually reduces CO2 emissions, whereas the creation of petroleum polyols increases CO2 emissions.

We've applied for three patents to protect the scientific advancements we've made with soy-based polyurethane foams: one for high-content soy foam formulations, one for a novel, low-odor process to synthesize polyols and one for the use of soy foam in headrests. Several companies have already expressed interest in licensing these technologies.

The Future of Soy-Based Foam

We're working in conjunction with other organizations and suppliers to bring this innovative technology to the mainstream as quickly as possible.

Auto parts supplier Lear Corporation has conducted head restraint trials with the 40-percent soy foam, measuring how it performs with a variety of production head restraint tools used for our vehicles. Another supplier, Bayer Corporation, has made significant contributions to the soy foam's formulation development.

For the past three years, the project has received significant funding from the United Soybean Board (USB), a group of 64 farmers/leaders that oversees investments in soy-based technologies. To date, we're the only auto manufacturer financially supported by the USB.