Researchers in Texas are making car parts out of coconuts.
A team at Baylor University there has made trunk liners, floorboards and car-door interior covers using fibers from the outer husks of coconuts, replacing the synthetic polyester fibers typically used in composite materials.
The approach has potential because coconuts are an abundant, renewable resource in all countries near the equator, including the Philippines, Indonesia and India. The husks are burned or thrown away, generating garbage. This is the first time that coconut fibers have been used to make these automotive products, said Walter Bradley, an engineering professor who is leading the project.
In Ghana, as one of Bradley’s students told him, the discarded husks pile up in mounds, creating a health hazard because they collect water where malaria-causing mosquitoes can breed.
“We are trying to turn trash into cash to help poor coconut farmers,” Bradley said, adding that the long-term goal is to increase demand for coconuts to millions of pounds, and thereby raise their market price.
Currently, there are about 11 million coconut farmers in the world making an average annual income of $500, he said.
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