Flower Power: Ford considers using dandelions to grow its green efforts

When most people see dandelions, they go for the weed killer. Ford goes for the fertilizer.

The dandelion is a sustainable material being looked at for its use in cars--specifically, the rubberlike substance that the Russian breed of the plant secretes.

"We're always looking for new sustainable materials to use in our vehicles that have a smaller carbon footprint to produce and can be grown locally," said Angela Harris, Ford research engineer. "Synthetic rubber is not a sustainable resource, so we want to minimize its use in our vehicles when possible."

The special breed of dandelion, named Taraxacum kok-saghyz, is being grown at Ohio State University's Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center.

Ford says it could use the new substance as a plastic modifier to improve the strength of plastic in the doors, cupholders, floor mats and interior trim.

The dandelion rubber hasn't been fully vetted by Ford yet. The company needs to evaluate the substance, see how it performs in a variety of conditions and assess the durability.

This is just the latest step in Ford's attempt to go greener. Ford currently uses several bio-based materials including soy-foam seat cushions, wheat-straw-filled plastic, recycled resins for underbody systems, recycled yarn on seat covers and natural fiber plastic for interior components.

By Jake Lingeman