Lina - City EV Made from Plants

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Some plastic resins can be made out of basically any vegetable oil, including both soy and hemp. BTW China has never outlawed hemp, and much of its reinforced concrete relies on hemp fiber, so who would doubt that Chinese-made cars would start coming with plastic parts reinforced with hemp fiber too?

Originally Posted by samwichse

How about this:

IIRC it ran on coconut oil.

[niky]

That's familiar. I think that's in my neck of the woods.

Waste Veggie Oil was briefly discussed here during the 08-09 oil crisis, but many of the WVO startups have shrivelled up with the return of (relatively) cheap diesel.

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Bamboo bikes are starting to become a thing here... local makers use bamboo struts connected by composite joints made using bamboo fiber in resin... but the joints are very clunky.

I shared the post with a friend who's designing e-tuktuks, and he found it pretty interesting.

I think bamboo bodies would work from an eco-tourism perspective... the problem is with raw bamboo and abaca weave, it's a labor intensive process. Hemp/bamboo/etcetera composites would probably scale up better.

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

Some plastic resins can be made out of basically any vegetable oil, including both soy and hemp. BTW China has never outlawed hemp, and much of its reinforced concrete relies on hemp fiber, so who would doubt that Chinese-made cars would start coming with plastic parts reinforced with hemp fiber too?

IIRC it ran on coconut oil.

Odd 13" Daihatsu rims

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by niky

Waste Veggie Oil was briefly discussed here during the 08-09 oil crisis, but many of the WVO startups have shrivelled up with the return of (relatively) cheap diesel.

Veg oils, either waste or fresh, have never really been taken seriously as a long-term alternative, even though sometimes it's way more cost-effective than both biodiesel and ethanol. The only problem is that it would not be compatible with some modern emissions control systems.

Bamboo bikes are starting to become a thing here... local makers use bamboo struts connected by composite joints made using bamboo fiber in resin... but the joints are very clunky.

I've already seen some bamboo bikes too.

I think bamboo bodies would work from an eco-tourism perspective... the problem is with raw bamboo and abaca weave, it's a labor intensive process. Hemp/bamboo/etcetera composites would probably scale up better.

Bamboo composites would be a great alternative to fiberglass in applications less sensitive to extreme temperatures, it does surprise me that it's not used so widely.

[gone-ot]

Bamboo? What, you want to use-up all the Panda bear food (wink,wink)?

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Bamboo became quite endemic in tropical and subtropical areas in Latin America, where there are no Panda bears around.

[freebeard]

3D print (hemp/bamboo composite) internal lugs, machine the bamboo to a consistent inside diameter, crochet a hemp fiber sleeve for the join and clear resin that.