Rice husks, Soybean oil, and future tires are all ingredients that will be used in the future to reduce the environmental impact of its products. Truck manufacturers are under immense pressure to decarbonize their products to avoid the need for special attention to the rubber components that connect them to the asphalt.
Jessica Julian leads product marketing for Goodyear Tire & Rubber explains that the current concept of a red Solo cup of soybean oil has replaced the petroleum that would go into a traditional truck tire, but more work is needed to validate their performance.
New ingredients
Julian announced that Goodyear's sustainable commercial tire incorporates 15 sustainable elements, including soybean oil, rice oil, rapeseed oil and ash, to incorporate them into the company's portfolio at the Technology & Maintenance Council's spring meeting.
Continental Tire is seeing dandelions as a replacement for natural rubber in its future tires, which is derived from the rubber tree which must grow for seven years before it produces the latex needed for rubber production. Natural rubber is a plentiful and durable material, with between 10-30% of a car tire and truck tire, and truck tires requiring higher amounts.
Continental sees dandelions as an alternative to traditional rubber production, as they are smaller and less sensitive to weather. A special breed of Russian dandelion is needed to make the plants more suitable for tire production, with a shorter lifecycle and more consistent supply and price stability. Carla Recker, leader of the Continental team, believes that rubber production is conceivable near tire factories, and the shorter transport routes would reduce CO2 emissions.
Michelin is exploring ways to remove air from the equation when creating an airless tire. At its Movin' On sustainability conference in Montreal in 2017, the Vision tire was made entirely of biosourced materials, including orange peels, cardboard, used metal, molasses, and other waste material. It featured a rechargeable tread that can be changed when plugged into a device that uses 3D printing to reconfigure the tread design. Airless tires are less likely to fail, producing roadside scrap, and Michelin predicts the airless design will be viable within 10-15 years.
“It’s a very realistic dream,” Terry Gettys, executive vice-president — research and development with Michelin Group said at the time. “All the components are currently the topics of active research programs at Michelin and we can deliver on those solutions.”
Tires for electric vehicles
Goodyear introduced the RangeMax RSD regional drive tire for electric trucks, which has a low rolling resistance and is suitable for both diesel-powered and gasoline-powered vehicles.
Urban buses require tires to be redesigned to account for thousands of pounds of additional battery weight, but truck tires are already designed to carry heavier gross vehicle weights. Some jurisdictions grant additional weight allowance to EVs, but this is not enough to put undue pressure on the truck tires. The focus is on reducing rolling resistance, which extends battery range and diesel fuel.
Michelin and B2B tire manufacturers differ in their low rolling resistance models for EVs and internal combustion engine vehicles. Michelin introduced its lowest rolling resistance tire to date, the X Line Energy Z+. It was developed as part of Daimler Truck North America's Department of Energy-funded SuperTruck II project and its attributes will suit the range-extending needs of EV fleets and traditional diesels. Julian said that the ultra-low rolling resistance is going to help give you that extended battery range, just as it does for fuel range.
Recycling and retreading
Saun Uys, head of Continental U.S. market, is planning to eliminate tire waste by 2025. He explains that the pyrolysis process is a thermal decomposition process used to break waste tires back down into raw ingredients such as carbon black and steel that can be used to create new tires. Retreading is a renewable energy source and can reduce fleet costs and environmental impacts.
Bandag calculates that retreading reduces CO2 emissions, natural resource extraction, water consumption, air pollution and resource land use by 24%, 19% and 29% respectively. This is all compared to using virgin replacement tires. Retets can incorporate these initiatives into their environmental, social and governance (ESG) reports, while also reducing costs.