Emerging New Eco-Friendly Tech For Your Car's Brakes

If your car's brakes are damaged and in need of repair, you can use this situation as an opportunity to assess whether you're happy with the current state of your brake's efficiency. There are new eco-friendly technologies coming out all the time that help make your brake more friendly to the environment in terms of energy use, braking power and materials used.

Asbestos-free Brake Pad Using Bananas

Asbestos is a dangerous substance that's still often used in car brake pads. The dust from the asbestos in brake pads can still get into the air and cause problems to humans and other local wildlife such as increasing the risk of cancer.

New research is coming out that could allow for an alternative substance to be used instead of asbestos when manufacturing brake pads. Scientists are experimenting with using natural waste products like banana peels instead. The idea is that what's required to allow the brakes to function is fiber. So, instead of using asbestos for that fiber, items such as flax fibers, palm kernel shells, palm wastes and phenolic resin are used.

Research is still ongoing, but it appears that a combination of banana fibers and phenolic resins has one of the best possibilities in terms of replacing asbestos in brake pads. In the long run, this could make it so that brake pads are biodegradable. This will eliminate the carcinogenic effects that throwing away used brake pads currently have on the environment.

Regenerative Braking System Upgrade

If you're thinking about trading in your car altogether due to extensive brake system and other types of damage to your car, there are a number of new braking systems available that can be a major selling point when you look for a new car. In some situations, you may be able to upgrade the entire braking system in your old car as well.

One example of such technology is called regenerative braking that uses something called an Electric Drive Intelligent Brake. This type of braking system takes all of the heat energy generated during deceleration in order to power your car's engine in the case of an electric or hybrid vehicle.

Normally, the friction heat generated from the brakes during deceleration would be entirely lost. But this way, you get some of that energy back and you'll need less fuel or less recharging as a result. This will make you far more eco-friendly just by changing your brakes. Contact a local brake repair shop, such as Elkhart Auto Center, for further assistance.