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In our March issue of FRP TODAY, I emphasized the importance of using composites for “green buildings”. Yet another area where composites can effectively be used for environment protection is in the transport sector making the vehicles “Green”. Dr. Pachauri, the IPCC chief, warns the consequences of pollution and global warming. For example, just by one degree rise in temperature, wheat production in India can drop by 5 to 10 percent. A rise in sea level by one metre, he says, would inundate 5763 square km of coastal region. Petroleum driven vehicles of all types are major sources of global warming and environmental pollution. Dr Pachauri suggests that one way to reduce the pollution is by using cars less and by relying more on public transport. It is easier said than done. The sure way to reduce the impact of vehicles on environment is to make the transport system “totally green”. Making the engines burn less fuel is one way to achieve this. Making the body light is another way. It is quite well recognized that plastic matrix composites reduce vehicle weight, make the vehicle noise free and acoustically insulating and provide better thermal insulation. In spite of these advantages, the usage of composites has not grown in this sector as much as it would have. However, better manufacturing facilities, stability in material price and narrowing of gap between steel and FRP prices can help to make FRP more acceptable. It is projected that India and China will be among the major automobile manufacturers of the world and it gives good opportunity for the Indian composites industries to get into this sector. The industry has to take several steps to get the material accepted. The traditional hand lay is too slow to meet the large volume and consistent quality production. Processes like RTM, vacuum infusion, vacuum assisted RTM and compression moulding of SMC are required to enhance productivity. Cost of process machinery and process consumables makes the process costly. Indigenous development and manufacture of process machinery and effective process development programmes are essential to bring down the cost. Keeping the price of major raw materials (glass fibre and resins) stable and competitive with steel is also essential. While thermosets are good for larger structures like bus body, truck body, tractors, road tankers, and containers, the fibre filled thermoplastics are good for cars and two wheelers. Natural fibre composites can make the composites biodegradable and this system can be used for car interior. All these require planned development of the technology and infrastructure. Above all creating awareness among the users about the benefits that composites can offer to protect the earth is to be given top consideration.
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