Tires You Buy In The Future Could Be Made From Dandelions

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Since vulcanized rubber was developed in the mid-19th century, it has actually been a sought-after product for markets of numerous kinds. It’s especially crucial in tire making, yet regardless of the big variety of cars on the roadway today, the source of the natural rubber that’s utilized in tires stays the same from the early days of the car. Latex is drawn out from the rubber tree, which is grown on plantations throughout Africa, Asia, and South America, then it’s sent to be processed into rubber before being utilized in the tire production procedure.
Many contemporary automobile tires just utilize a little percentage of natural rubber. Most of rubber that the tire market takes in is artificial, stemmed from petroleum similar to the gas you put in your cars and truck’s tank. Around 10-30 % of an automobile tire is still made of natural rubber. Instead of continue to depend on the rubber tree, Continental Tire has actually invested years dealing with an alternative option: drawing out rubber from dandelions rather.
In specific, Continental is focusing its efforts on the Russian dandelion, which it states is well matched to mass growing, given that it can be grown in locations that aren’t helpful for growing food. This dandelion has a big root– around the size of a carrot, according to the brand name– and unlike other dandelions, that root naturally includes latex.

Numerous tire factory lie in North America and Europe, and considering that the dandelion can grow on both continents, it implies that latex production can be positioned much better to the tire factory. This assists reduce the tire market’s carbon emissions by decreasing the range that basic material requires to be transferred, however it isn’t the only factor that Continental believes dandelions are an excellent option.
Unlike a rubber tree, which can use up to 7 years to grow before it can be very first collected, dandelions grow in a single year. They likewise grow well in a broader range of weather than a rubber tree, which is especially essential considered that existing methods to fight environment modification have not sufficed to avoid rubber tree plantations being consistently impacted by dry spell and flooding.
Continental has actually currently shown that dandelion rubber can be utilized to make tires, having actually made its very first test set of cars and truck tires back in 2014. It even presently offers Urban Taraxagum bike tires which include rubber sourced from dandelions. There are still a couple of actions to conquer before the business can start mass-producing automobile or truck tires with the product.

The Continental opened a proving ground committed to this brand-new rubber in 2018 and charged its scientists with establishing brand-new production techniques to clear the obstacle of getting adequate dandelion rubber to make the mass production of automobile tires practical. Far, it has actually handled to decipher the plant’s genome, with the goal of assisting to improve rubber production per plant without requiring to utilize hereditary engineering.
Another secret obstacle that requires to be resolved is establishing equipment that can collect the dandelions at scale while keeping their roots undamaged. Scientists at the center are still dealing with that piece of the puzzle. The business is obviously likewise dealing with numerous other green tire products, which it previewed back in 2021 with the launch of its GreenConcept model tire.
Continental isn’t the only tire maker assessing the capacity of dandelion rubber either. In 2022, Goodyear revealed a task in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Defense, Air Force Research Lab (AFRL), and BioMADE to establish its own source of locally produced rubber from dandelions. Goodyear is at first utilizing the rubber to produce military airplane tires, however it hasn’t dismissed the concept of utilizing dandelion rubber in other kinds of tire. Bridgestone likewise formerly looked into the expediency of dandelion rubber production, however recently has actually rotated to concentrate on a latex-producing desert shrub called guayule rather.