Soybeans and Automobiles: From Henry Ford to Biodiesel
In the ’30s and early ’40s Henry Ford was determined to make bodies and other car parts from soybean phenolic resin. By 1935 he was already growing 12,000 acres of soybeans. He planned to use one million bushels of soybeans per year for various automotive parts and liquids.
To prove his point, in 1941 he held a press conference where he slammed a fire axe into the body of a Ford made of soybeans, causing no apparent damage. He then rewarded the press corps with a soybean lunch, including soybean soup, soybean steak, soybean coffee, soybean milk and apple pie with a crust made from soybeans.

So what happened to Henry Ford’s soybean plans? By the time World War II was over, Henry Ford was losing control of the business, and his soybean plans were forgotten.

Today, soybeans are being used to produce biodiesel, which according to studies done by the University of Minnesota and St. Olafs College, is much more efficient to produce than corn based ethanol. The studies found that ethanol generates only 25% more energy than required for its production, where biodiesel generates 93% more energy.

One small problem. According to a study by the National Academy of Sciences, if all American corn and soybean production were dedicated to biofuels, they would only satisfy 12% of gasoline and 6% of diesel demand.

 

And what does this have to do with third gens? Soybeans have never been used for thirdgen production.

 

 

When I first saw the post I was thinking maybe this was going to be some new body panel or something for our third gens. Not something you learn in the first year of autoshop that everyone in the class already new. Of course the last part of the thread is plain brought on by the oil companies.
But as I see it just someone trying to look smart and get there thread count up, Really this post should be as it has nothing to do with third gens cars as that is what this site is for.

 

I found it educational ......

 

 

Its a polymer(?) manufacturing idea that COULD be applied to making body parts, aka Saturn (?)