Feds invest $1.2M in the use of wood products for automotive applications
by CM Staff
The project will combine wood pulp with polymers to create a strong and lightweight thermoplastic with more uniform and improved properties
PHOTO: Frank Vincentz, via Wikimedia Commons
TORONTO — The Government of Canada announced a $1.2 million investment to GreenNano Technologies Inc., a company based in Toronto, to scale up production of a new lightweight wood-fibre–based composite material to create automotive parts.
“Using forest products in the automotive sector is a great example of the high-tech future of forestry. Companies like GreenNano Technologies are creating good jobs and finding new markets for Canadian wood,” said Seamus O’Regan, minister of Natural Resources, in a prepared statement.
The project will combine wood pulp with polymers to create a strong and lightweight thermoplastic with more uniform and improved properties. The new product, if successfully applied in the automotive sector, could have a number of consumer and commercial applications, including aerospace parts, pharmaceuticals, solar panels and cosmetics.
GreenNano is also collaborating with Ford Canada’s Power Engineering Research and Development Centre, located in Windsor, Ont., to test the new material in the production of lightweight car parts.
“We are pushing our boundaries to transform green innovations in achieving cost-effective, high-throughput technical products, which are energy-efficient and environmentally sound,” said Samir Konar, vice-president, GreenNano Technologies Inc. “We are very proud of the project we are undertaking, and we are excited about the partnership we have developed with Natural Resources Canada.”
Funding for this project is provided through the Investments in Forest Industry Transformation program, which encourages the Canadian forest sector to adopt and implement unique technologies and processes to diversify into new product streams and into emerging markets.
