Manufacturing tires from a renewable plant source could be less expensive to produce than tires using carbon black which is made from oil, or silica which takes a lot of energy to produce.
But aside from the manufacturing benefits, the researchers found that the cellulosic rubber tires had better traction on wet surfaces and less effected by heat compared to conventional tires.
"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," according to a report from Kaichang Li, associate professor of wood science and engineering in the OSU College of Forestry, and Wen Bai, a doctoral student who collaborated on the project.
This is promising. But I have heard other tire technologies that they have been working on for a long time and nothing came of them. Really until there is a reason to change, they won't change.
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