Japan looks to wood pulp to make lighter auto parts

KYOTO, Japan (Reuters) The global push among carmakers to make ever lighter vehicles is leading some auto suppliers in Japan to turn to what seems like an unlikely substitute for steel wood.

Kyoto University Professor Hiroyuki Yano, who is leading the research into using canada goose store wood pulp fibers to make lighter auto parts, poses for a photograph buy canada goose jacket cheap at his laboratory in Kyoto, Japan July 25, canada goose clearance sale 2017. REUTERS/Naomi Tajitsu

The material cellulose nanofibers could become a canada goose clearance viable alternative to steel in the decades ahead, they say, although it faces competition from carbon based materials, and remains a long way from being commercially viable.

Reducing the weight of a vehicle will be critical as manufacturers move to bring electric cars into the mainstream. Batteries are an expensive but vital component, so a reduction in car weight will mean fewer batteries Canada Goose Coats On Sale will be needed to power the vehicle, saving on costs.

is a constant issue for us, said Masanori Matsushiro, a project manager overseeing body design at Toyota Motor Corp.

we also have to resolve the issue of high manufacturing costs before we see an increased Canada Goose sale use of new, lighter weight materials in mass volume cars.

Researchers at Kyoto University canada goose uk outlet and major parts suppliers canada goose factory sale such as Denso Corp, Toyota biggest supplier, and DaikyoNishikawa Corp, are working with plastics incorporated with cellulose nanofibers made by breaking down wood pulp fibers into several hundredths of a micron (one thousandth of a millimeter).

Cellulose nanofibers have been used in a variety of products ranging from ink to transparent displays, but their potential use in cars has been enabled by the Process canada goose coats under which chemically treated wood Canada Goose Parka fibers are kneaded into plastics while simultaneously being broken down into nanofibers, slashing the cost of production uk canada goose outlet to roughly one canada goose fifth that of other processes.

is the lowest cost, highest performance application for cellulose nanofibers, and that why we focusing on its use in auto and aircraft parts, Kyoto University Professor Hiroaki Yano, who is leading the research, told Reuters in an interview.

The university, along with auto parts suppliers, are currently developing a prototype car using cellulose nanofiber based parts to be completed in 2020.

been using plastics as a replacement for steel, and we hoping that cellulose nanofibers will widen the possibilities toward that goal, said Yukihiko Ishino, a spokesman at DaikyoNishikawa, which counts Toyota Motor Corp and Mazda Motor Corp among its customers.

Kyoto University Professor Hiroyuki Yano, who is leading the research into using wood pulp fibers to make lighter auto parts, shows wood chips (L) and fibers which are chemically treated before they are converted into cellulose nanofibers as they are kneaded into plastics and formed into pellets, at his laboratory canadagoose-coats in Tokyo, Japan Canada Goose Online July 25, 2017. REUTERS/Naomi Tajitsu

Automakers are also using other lightweight substitutes. BMW uses Canada Goose Outlet carbon fiber reinforced polymers canada goose uk shop (CFRPs) for its i3 compact electric car as well as for its 7 canadian goose jacket series, while high uk canada goose tensile steel and aluminum alloys are currently buy canada goose jacket the most widely used lightweight options because they are cheaper and recyclable. billionaire entrepreneur Howard Hughes. At the time, it was the world largest aircraft.

thought canada goose uk black friday that if Howard Hughes could find a way to use wood to build a canada goose coats on sale massive Canada Goose online plane, why not use wood to make a material that was as strong as steel, he said.

The cost of mass producing a kilogram of cellulose nanofiber is currently around 1,000 yen ($9).

Yano aims to halve that cost by 2030, which he says will make it an economically viable product, since it would be combined Canada Goose Jackets with plastic, and so cheap Canada Goose competitive against high tensile steel and aluminum alloys, cheap canada goose uk which currently cost around $2 per kg.

Industry experts anticipate that carbon fiber prices will fall to around $10 per kg by 2025.

Analysts say high tensile steel and aluminum will be the more popular alternative for many years to come, considering parts makers would need to overhaul production lines and figure out ways to fasten new materials like cellulose nanofiber canada goose black friday sale onto other car parts.

Reporting by Naomi Tajitsu and Maki Shiraki: Additional reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by related site Neil Fullick.