Tires Made From Trees: Better, Cheaper, More Fuel Efficient

Automobile owners around the world may some day soon be driving on tires that are partly made out of trees – which could cost less, perform better and save on fuel and energy.

Wood science researchers at Oregon State University have made some surprising findings about the potential of microcrystalline cellulose – a product that can be made easily from almost any type of plant fibers – to partially replace silica as a reinforcing filler in the manufacture of rubber tires.

A new study suggests that this approach might decrease the energy required to produce the tire, reduce costs, and better resist heat buildup. Early tests indicate that such products would have comparable traction on cold or wet pavement, be just as strong, and provide even higher fuel efficiency than traditional tires in hot weather.

“We were surprised at how favorable the results were for the use of this material,” said Kaichang Li, an associate professor of wood science and engineering in the OSU College of Forestry, who conducted this research with graduate student Wen Bai.

“This could lead to a new generation of automotive tire technology, one of the first fundamental changes to come around in a long time,” Li said.

Read more . . .

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Tags: automobile owners, fuel efficiency, fundamental changes, heat buildup, Innovation, kaichang li, new generation, rubber tires, science researchers, tire technology, wet pavement, wood science

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 9th, 2009 at 10:44 am and is filed under Automotive, Cutting-edge Research, Innovation, Project Energy, Science Digest / Science Daily, environment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.