The use of traditional carbon and glass fibre-based composites across industries is nowadays heavily challenged by environmental questions that arise due to their high carbon footprint and lack of efficient and industrial processes to recycle or dispose of the laminates at their end-of-life. Plant based natural fibres offer very encouraging numbers both in terms of their global warming potential and a mechanical point of view. Tomorrow’s mobility needs to become more sustainable, and this means we also must focus on large-scale mass transportation applications to maximise sustainable impact. The potential of sustainable lightweighting in aerospace applications is significant, with other mass transportation sectors like buses and trains also showing big potential for sustainable interiors. Very challenging requirements towards safety and especially fire resistance are found in all of these mass transportation areas. However, through hard work and our collaboration with Lufthansa Technik – leading provider of aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul services – we have succeeded to develop an airworthy and 100% biobased composite solution. Combining Bcomp’s ampliTex™ and powerRibs™ natural fibre technologies for composite components that meet rigorous safety and fire resistance requirements is a significant step forward. Natural fibre composites can replace traditional synthetic composites in the right applications and have the potential to play a big role in decarbonising the mobility of tomorrow.
