If you thought the price of oil is down now, wait till markets get back to normal, that’s why car companies are aggressively looking at reducing their ecological foot print. If the new concept car comes to realization, a decade from now you could be driving a Toyota made from seaweed. This Toyota concept car is made from carbon fibre. In the future it could be made with plastics produced from seaweed. seaweed, specifically a kelp-based bioplastic. Bioplastics are an emerging technology that converts biomass into an oil-plastic alternative--typically crops like corn starch or vegetable oil are used with "plasticizing" chemicals to create a durable material.

Toyota’s vehicle may be a concept for now, but the vehicle is very green indeed with a super-light body (incorporating carbon fiber and plastic) and a tiny engine that mixes 500cc gasoline power with lithium-ion batteries for electric-only power. As Toyota project manager Tetsuya Kaida notes, the existing 1/X uses "lightweight carbon-fiber reinforced plastic throughout the body and frame for its superior collision safety" but that product still uses oil-derived plastic.

[Wired]