Tires made from trees (using cellulose) -- better, cheaper, more fuel efficient (and use less oil)

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-07/osu-tmf072109.php

Public release date: 21-Jul-2009

Contact: Kaichang Li
[e-mail]
541-737-8421
http://www.orst.edu/">Oregon State University

Tires made from trees -- better, cheaper, more fuel efficient

CORVALLIS, Ore. – 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.

Cellulose fiber has been used for some time as reinforcement in some types of rubber and automotive products, such as belts, hoses and insulation – but never in tires, where the preferred fillers are carbon black and silica. Carbon black, however, is made from increasingly expensive oil, and the processing of silica is energy-intensive. Both products are very dense and reduce the fuel efficiency of automobiles.

In the search for new types of reinforcing fillers that are inexpensive, easily available, light and renewable, OSU experts turned to microcrystalline cellulose – a micrometer-sized type of crystalline cellulose with an extremely well-organized structure. It is produced in a low-cost process of acid hydrolysis using nature's most abundant and sustainable natural polymer – cellulose – that comprises about 40-50 percent of wood.

In this study, OSU researchers replaced up to about 12 percent of the silica used in conventional tire manufacture. This decreased the amount of energy needed to compound the rubber composite, improved the heat resistance of the product, and retained tensile strength.

Traction is always a key issue with tire performance, and the study showed that the traction of the new product was comparable to existing rubber tire technology in a wet, rainy environment. However, at high temperatures such as in summer, the partial replacement of silica decreased the rolling resistance of the product, which would improve fuel efficiency of rubber tires made with the new approach.

More research is needed to confirm the long-term durability of tires made with partial replacement of silica, Li said. Further commercial development of this technology by a tire manufacturer could be undertaken at any time, he said. The newest findings were just published in a professional journal, Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing.

Tire manufacturing, a huge industry, could also provide another market for large amounts of Pacific Northwest natural fibers and the jobs and technology needed to process them

This advance is another in a series of significant discoveries in Li's research program at OSU in recent years. He developed a non-toxic adhesive for production of wood composite panels that has dramatically changed that industry, and in 2007 received a Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award at the National Academy of Sciences for his work on new, sustainable and environmentally friendly wood products.

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Editor's Note: A digital image of OSU doctoral student Wen Bai conducting laboratory research on this technology can be obtained at this URL: http://www.flickr.com/photos/oregonstateuniversity/3743144298/

[county worker]

1. I thought we were to use cloth shopping bags to save trees.

I thought we were paying our bill on line to save paper and save trees. I thought we were using recycled paper to save trees. For what? To make tires?

Good by old grow forests, we need to not use oil and use you to make tires!

[MADem]

2. No, to save oil-the cloth bags replace PLASTIC made from oil, not trees.

People DO farm trees, you know. They grow them, cut them, grow them again. It's a popular business in some parts of the country.

[Nihil]

5. Any comment on his other two points?

>> I thought we were paying our bill on line to save paper and save trees.
>> I thought we were using recycled paper to save trees.
>> For what? To make tires?

:shrug:

I agree with him ... there are good uses for trees and there are bad uses.
IMO this is a bad use.

Unfortunately, it isn't that unexpected though and I predict we'll see
more of the "Save Our Car Culture" schemes like this that will get far
greater publicity than the projects that would actually benefit the
planet.

:grr:

Hah! What an incredibly optimistic, hopeful idealistic comment that
was - the thought of "benefiting the planet" rather than just the lazy
f*ckers who don't want to give up any of their "rights" ... like the
"right" to drive anywhere at any time, the "right" to consume power while
they light up their megamansions, the "right" to drive species to extinction
for the sake of 'exotic' food, the "right" to cheap international flights,
the "right" to stuff their faces with 24lb steaks, ... this is why I want
a catastrophic event *NOW* - it will affect the greedy hyperconsumptive
shitforbrains themselves rather than just everyone's children/grandchildren
in the years following the burial of the cause of these problems in their
gold-plated coffins ...

:rant:

[Javaman]

7. I understand your anger...

but until we build a better society, we still are going to use wheeled vehicles. And those same vehicles need to roll on something.

Better that they be on a recyclable closed looped source than via using either synthetic rubber made from fossil fuels or "recycled" old tires. I put that in quotes because a lot of the material from tires ends up in our water supply. The worn away rubber doesn't magically vanish.

Not knowing the complete details on the wood based tires, I would think that any material worn from them would be a bit more friendly to the environment.

I would like to think that recycled paper could be used instead, but again, not knowing the composition of the material used for these wood based tires, I don't know if that would work.

cheers.

[Javaman]

6. Plastic bags are made from natural gas.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_shopping_bag

Although often quoted as consuming oil resources, most plastic bags are actually made from natural gas<2>
-<2> US Department of Energy, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, US Life Cycle Inventory Database, http://www.nrel.gov/lci/

[MADem]

9. Technically, they're made from byproducts...of natural gas, and oil, depending.

http://greenreview.blogspot.com/2008/08/plastic-bags-are-bad-but-they-are-not.html

But they're not sustainable, no matter what they're made of....

[Mnpaul]

3. Like this?

From Jalopnik

http://jalopnik.com/5302094/thirty-vehicular-youre-doing-it-wrong-moments-version-40/gallery/

[Ganja Ninja]

4. "a product that can be made easily from almost any type of plant fibers"

Sounds like another place where hemp could be used.

[silverweb]

8. You beat me to it.

Why trees? Better hemp!