<
https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/09/bridgestone-has-put-more-than-100m-into-eco-tires-made-of-shrubs/>
'There's still a lot of petroleum hanging onto electric cars, specifically
around the rims. It takes about seven gallons of oil to make each standard car
tire, and the world produces more than 2 billion tires every year. Now, some
tire companies are turning to a desert shrub and a novel means of pulling
natural rubber compounds out of it.
Bridgestone Americas has been working with guayule (Parthenium argentatum)
since 2012. The tire company broke ground on a research facility in Mesa,
Arizona, in 2012, started evaluating sample tires in 2015, and received
multiple grants from the US Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Energy for
its research and molecular breeding work. Just last month, the company
committed another $42 million to expanding its harvesting partnerships, with
350 acres in the short term and 250,000 more planned. That's part of more than
$100 million invested into guayule-based rubber, the company says.
"With guayule, we can reduce the environmental impacts that come with overseas
sourcing while also realizing a more sustainable agricultural system for parts
of this country that are facing persistent and worsening climate conditions, so
it’s really something with many benefits for our environment and our economy,"
said Nizar Trigui, chief technology officer for Bridgestone Americas, in a
press release.
The US and its industries have looked into plant-based rubber supplies before,
primarily in the early 1900s, during World War II shipping blockades, and when
oil prices have risen so high as to make major manufacturers curious.
Revolutions in synthetic petroleum-based rubber put an end to those avenues,
although natural rubber is still 10–30 percent of a tire's composition.
Bridgestone, citing environmental goals, aims to get all-natural tires into the
mainstream.
It helps that the rubber that comes from guayule is not some weaker,
paper-straw alternative—it generally makes a better tire, especially in
heavy-load applications like large trucks, airplanes, and race tires.
Bridgestone's Firestone brand debuted sustainable tires at a pre-Indy 500 pit
stop challenge, and they were an alternate offering at a Nashville street race
in August. Bridgestone tested its guayule-derived tires for over a year on Indy
cars and found it provided "similar or better performance" than traditional
race tires.'
Via
Future Crunch Sep 23, 2022:
<
https://futurecrunch.com/good-news-aids-ocean-indonesia-clean-air-spain/>
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
