Curaua fibers in the automobile industry - a sustainability assessment [An article from: Journal of Cleaner Production]

This digital document is a journal article from Journal of Cleaner Production, published by Elsevier in 2007. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
Replacing glass fibers with natural fibers in the automobile industry can yield economic, environmental and social benefits. This article evaluates the prospective environmental impacts of automobile applications of curaua fiber (Ananas erectifolius), which nearly equates the physical properties of glass fibers. The study identified economic and social advantages of applying curaua fiber composites in car parts. Besides costing 50% less than fiber glass, the use of curaua fibers can promote regional development in the Amazon region. In order to realize significant environmental benefits, however, the curaua-based composites would have to be lighter than their glass fiber-based counterparts.