Oakville, Ontario - There was a time when the color black played a major role at Ford. However, from what I've seen on a recent tour of the company's Oakville Assembly Plant, green is becoming the prominent color nowadays.
Yes, Ford is ramping up its Eco-friendly Fumes-to-Fuel program and will soon be turning emissions into "green energy".
Now I'm sure that many of you have been inside an automotive body shop at some time, and can therefore vouch for the horrid chemical smells which float around in the air, mostly caused by potentially hazardous VOC's.
Ok, so you might not recognize the actual name, Volatile Organic Compounds, but you're sure to have smelled them, and the idea that these regularly escape into the atmosphere probably disturbs you as much as it does me.
Ford, however, has come up with a solution, which not only removes these obnoxious chemicals from the air, but converts them into an energy source that can be used to produce electricity. This green-power will eventually end up being fed into the Oakville assembly's electrical grid system and used to help power the plant.
What a clever idea!
The system which is already turning emissions from the plant's paint shop into useable fuel is expected to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2 ) emissions by 88 per cent. It will also eliminate nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions when compared to traditional technology.
Once in full production, this system should be able to produce approximately 300 kilowatts of energy per hour, which is enough to power approximately 30 homes.
The system uses a number of filtration capsules, and small carbon beads to capture the VOC's, which results in clean exhaust air. These beads then release the VOC's, which are, in turn, transformed into fuel for a fuel cell. The fuel cell then converts the VOC's into electricity.
Yes, Ford is ramping up its Eco-friendly Fumes-to-Fuel program and will soon be turning emissions into "green energy".
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Now I'm sure that many of you have been inside an automotive body shop at some time, and can therefore vouch for the horrid chemical smells which float around in the air, mostly caused by potentially hazardous VOC's.
Ok, so you might not recognize the actual name, Volatile Organic Compounds, but you're sure to have smelled them, and the idea that these regularly escape into the atmosphere probably disturbs you as much as it does me.
Ford, however, has come up with a solution, which not only removes these obnoxious chemicals from the air, but converts them into an energy source that can be used to produce electricity. This green-power will eventually end up being fed into the Oakville assembly's electrical grid system and used to help power the plant.
What a clever idea!
The system which is already turning emissions from the plant's paint shop into useable fuel is expected to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2 ) emissions by 88 per cent. It will also eliminate nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions when compared to traditional technology.
Once in full production, this system should be able to produce approximately 300 kilowatts of energy per hour, which is enough to power approximately 30 homes.
The system uses a number of filtration capsules, and small carbon beads to capture the VOC's, which results in clean exhaust air. These beads then release the VOC's, which are, in turn, transformed into fuel for a fuel cell. The fuel cell then converts the VOC's into electricity.
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