New Tech Uses Fly Ash to Decrease Vehicle Weight

Researchers have found a way to use fly ash – a byproduct of coal combustion – as an additive to create lightweight metal foams that could replace heavy aluminum and magnesium parts in automobiles.

Nikhil Gupta, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Polytechnic Institute of New York University’s Composites Materials and Mechanics Laboratory, and collaborators from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee say the fly ash metal foams could be easily incorporated into vehicle manufacturing, reducing the vehicle’s overall weight by 8 percent and, possibly, increasing its fuel economy.

http://earth911.com/news/2011/03/24/new-tech-uses-fly-ash-to-decrease-vehicle-weight/