Biomotive is paving the way for the production and subsequent market penetration of bio-based automotive interior parts with enhanced technical performance, improved environmental profile and economic competitiveness, with the aim of replacing its fossil-based, non-biodegradable counterparts. The bio-based plastics which are currently used in the automotive industry are mainly derived from vegetable oils like soybean oil and castor oil. These pose serious environmental concern in terms of competition with the food and feed chains. The goal of the Biomotive project was to use monomers and polymers with sustainable, second-generation feedstock. It also assures that the mechanical and functional properties of developed bio-based solutions can compete with the products currently available in the market. Biobased polyurethanes have the potential to kickstart a new era in the application of biobased materials into the automotive sector, improving performance, cost, competitiveness and environmental sustainability – all paving the way towards mass use in the production of vehicles. From a scientific and technological perspective, Biomotive demonstrated the production of bio-based raw materials and building blocks for the subsequent application in the formulation of bio-based polyesters-polyols and bio-based thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) and the production of novel cellulose based regenerated fibres from paper pulp. From a final application perspective, Biomotive validated, on an industrial scale, the bio-based polymers in producing the interior of cars, such as the foams for production of bio-based seats and the regenerated fibre for producing bio-based textile seat covers.
Within the Biomotive project, several renewable, competitive, and sustainable feedstocks have been used for the production of bio-based monomers, building blocks and polymers. The first raw material is represented by wood pulp, and the second raw material by vegetable oils obtained by oil crops grown in marginal lands. These are not in competition with food and feed value chains (such as, but not limited to, cardoon seeds). Sugars from by-products of first and second-generation sugar feedstocks represent the third. Life cycle analysis and recyclability tests have shown that materials developed produced and demonstrated in the project have significantly lower carbon footprint and higher sustainability than standard materials currently used in the automotive sector. The project has been completed in November 2021.
