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We're just going to have to wait 'til 2020 and see how this technology develops. This could be a revolutionary change in transportation if it become a reality.
Tires generally contain a combination of natural rubber, harvested from a rubber tree, and synthetic rubbers made from oil and other ingredients. The current source for commercial rubber is the Pará rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis). Although the tree hails from the Amazon rainforest, it was brought to Southeast Asia, which now produces most of the commercial latex. The particular blend of materials used for each tire is specific to the performance required of the tire. The blend consists of multiple rubbers and fillers mixed in large blenders and then milled. Synthetic rubber is derived from polymers extracted from crude oil. Rubber manufacturers add carbon black, a powder formed by burning oil or a natural gas and creating soot, as well as sulfur and a mix of other chemicals in specifically crafted ratios, to create the finished product: a tire comprised of over 30 materials. As you can see, the problem is that tires are made from oil and trees. The trees are limited to a few species located in a few regions of the globe. A switch in tire design, the raw materials and the manufacturing of tires could have multiple benefits. It could reduce oil consumption, could limit import of foreign goods produced from political unstable regions in the world, could greatly simplify the manufacturing processes needed to make a tire, and reduce the number of constituents that compose a tire thus reduce manufacturing and material production costs. There is also the potential for a longer lasting and better performing tire as well. However, this needs to be demonstrated and is why this type of research is being conducted by manufacturers now such as Michelin.
Yep. All organizations (even tire manufacturers), like all cultures, must continue to evolve or they stagnate and eventually become obsolete. If your business is not moving forward then you are moving backward. Technology and research in all fields of endeavor are essential to our nation's economy.
Did you see the NASA video? That's impressive.
Michelin is far along with the technology. I am not sure what commercial applications they have in mind though. I can see this technology being introduced to the marketplace near term. Here, watch the video at this website:
His spell checker wood knot catch that.I saw what you did there!
