The European Union (EU) is significantly influencing the promotion of sustainable mobility through a significant amount of funds distributed in the 27 countries that make up the bloc.
One of its main lines of action is to promote sustainable mobility, a challenge present in the projects of any public body, through strategies that minimize the impact on the territory.
The development of technologies is also taking shape in the EU strategy with the unveiling of the FOREST project, which seeks to obtain advanced lightweight materials of natural or recycled origin to help decarbonize the transport sector.
The program is made up of 14 partners from eight countries who will develop innovative polymers and additives of natural origin and recycled carbon fiber for sustainable and safe applications in the transport sector.
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Key Material
Plastic will be FOREST‘s key material, as it will reduce the structural weight of vehicles by using lightweight components made of carbon fiber-reinforced plastic.
In this way, less fuel will be used and energy consumption will be lower to cover the same distances. This will be achieved through the development of new multifunctional and lightweight biocomposites as an alternative to conventional composites.
A report from “Innovaspain” explains that the biocomposites will be obtained through the use of “one-shot” manufacturing techniques, which will include out-of-autoclave manufacturing processes to manufacture and evaluate prototypes with improved multifunctional properties such as mechanical strength, flame retardancy or electromagnetic shielding for application in the transportation sector.
The project will develop new synthesis processes based on the principles of green chemistry with the aim of obtaining polymers and additives with a high content of raw materials from renewable sources. In this sense, dependence on fossil sources will be reduced.
FOREST will also focus on efficient methods to recover 100% of carbon fiber waste to develop high quality semi-finished materials for application in the transportation sector.
