Will cost challenges thwart the lightweight promise of sustainable biomaterial?

Developments around natural fibre composite material could accelerate the automotive industry’s push for lighter, more sustainable vehicles. Swiss company Bcomp has developed natural fibre-based reinforcement materials for use in a range of interior and exterior vehicle applications, enabling substantial weight savings, dematerialisation, CO2 reductions and more viable end-of-life options compared to standard materials. Initially targeting the winter sports market, it later pivoted to vehicle racing applications and is now applying developments there to road vehicles. The impact on the wider industry’s lightweighting and sustainability journey could be significant.