Ford Motor Co. will put soybean-based foam cushions in the seats of the 2008 Mustang and may do the same with other models as well, eventually saving thousands of barrels of oil in the manufacturing process, the Detroit automaker said ThursdayMost automakers use petroleum-based foam, with an average of 30 pounds going into each vehicle, Ford said. The annual worldwide market for automotive foam is 9 billion pounds, meaning a broader switch to renewable interior materials could have a significant environmental impact, said Debbie Mielewski, technical leader for Ford’s materials research and advanced engineering department.Ford said environmental advantages include reduced carbon dioxide emissions in manufacturing compared with petroleum-based foam, lower energy use to produce the soy foam and reduced dependence on foreign oil.Ford is teaming with seat supplier Lear Corp. (nyse: LEA – news – people ) to install the seats at a joint Mazda-Ford factory in Flat Rock, Mich., the company said.Crew Chief Note: found it intersting they put 30 pounds of foam in each car foam does not weigh a lot so that is a lot of foam News source: Forbes.com