A Future for Jeepneys (What do you think?)

[ghosthunter]

Fiberglass takes a lot of energy and mineral resources to be manufactured, while some vegetable fibers can be used as an alternative. Coconut fiber, cotton, and even hemp could be a viable replacement to fiberglass.

Viable replacement?

To be viable, it has to prove it can match the strength and durability of fiberglass. Do you have any studies to prove your statement?

From my knowledge, coco-fiber, cotton and hemp do not have the tensile strength anywhere near to match fiberglass.

Kindly backup your statements because fabricating facts out of thin air is not useful in this discussion.

[cripple_rooster]

Viable replacement?

To be viable, it has to prove it can match the strength and durability of fiberglass. Do you have any studies to prove your statement?

From my knowledge, coco-fiber, cotton and hemp do not have the tensile strength anywhere near to match fiberglass.

Kindly backup your statements because fabricating facts out of thin air is not useful in this discussion.

In the former East Germany there was the Trabant, a small car which body panels were made out of cotton-reinforced plastic. In China, hemp fiber is still widely used to reinforce plastics in many industrial applications - it's even used to reinforce concrete structures in buildings.

[ghosthunter]

In the former East Germany there was the Trabant, a small car which body panels were made out of cotton-reinforced plastic. In China, hemp fiber is still widely used to reinforce plastics in many industrial applications - it's even used to reinforce concrete structures in buildings.

And the same Trabant plastic is causing pollution because it cannot be recycled nor bio-degradable.

I would not want to live nor work in hemp reinforced concrete structures. The reason steel is used in reinforced concrete is because of it's tensile strength per cross sectional area. As we know, concrete is very strong in compression but extremely weak in tension.

Using hemp-concrete might be fine in non-critical areas which results in a durable and light concrete mix but I doubt it is used in critical loaded areas of a structure. This is the same as using styrofoam blended concrete to make lightweight concrete for non-critical areas of a structure. It is so light that it will float. But it can never be used for critical sections of a structure.

[cripple_rooster]

And the same Trabant plastic is causing pollution because it cannot be recycled nor bio-degradable.

After all, fiberglass is as hard to recycle as the Trabant's plastic.