Seat is investigating whether it can use rice in the production of its cars. That should yield a number of benefits.
There is a lot of search for ways to reduce car emissions and to make the production process less impact on the world. Seat says it sees rice as a possible ‘raw material’ to help with this. It is testing whether it can make auto parts using rice husk, rice grain casing. Rice chaff is thrown away on a large scale, while it can also be used for all kinds of things. For example, it is used as cushion filling, insulation material and can be used in a special type of concrete. It is also used as a ‘carrier’ of gunpowder in large fireworks. Seat now hopes to use it in cars as well.
A Spanish composite manufacturer and researcher has succeeded in using rice chaff to produce a raw material that can be processed into plastic. According to Seat, those plastics are lighter than usual and therefore partly made of the natural material. Seat is currently testing to what extent this plastic is suitable for various car parts. For example, loading floors, ceiling panels and the finish of the (inside of the) tailgate are made of it. Now it is investigated whether the material is strong enough and of good quality to be used in cars on a large scale. According to Seat, the material – because it is lighter – can contribute to a lower car weight and therefore lower emissions. Another mentioned (environmental) advantage is that rice chaff is a large-scale available material that might otherwise have been destroyed.