Ford Motor Co. and Lear Corp. have joined forces to produce seat foam made from soy-based materials. The first application will appear in the 2008 Ford Mustang.

And in fact, Ford’s press release was proud to state that they actually have a long history in incorporating soy-based materials into its products that dates back to the days of Henry. Ford’s work with soy-foams was showcased in its award-winning Model U concept, which featured soy-based seat cushions and soy-based resin composite tailgate.

As they say, the environmental advantages of soy-foam include; a reduction of CO2 emissions compared to the current petroleum-based material, lower energy to produce, up to 24% renewable content, and a reduction of dependency on volatile energy markets.