Know About the Eco Friendly Tires

There has been a lot of changes in the process of making of automobiles as every auto maker in the world is trying to reduce the negative effect of the vehicle on the environment. In this process lot of advances like the carbon dioxide output has been decreased, paint application has changed to a water based process, there is an improvement in the recycling and waste reduction at the factory, etc. were seen.

Earlier days, the tires used in the automobiles were made up of natural rubber derived from the latex sap of rubber trees and with the improvements in technology, the tire manufacturers started using petroleum ingredients and special additives to deliver the tires at low prices. Around 5 to 10 gallons of petroleum is required to manufacture a tire.

A century after, the tire makers are now trying to reverse the trend by decreasing the use of petroleum in the tires. One of those tire makers are Sumitomo Rubber Industries, which has a global alliance with Goodyear. The engineers of Sumatomo reduced the petroleum usage by 11 percent of the tire’s composition from about 22 percent. Engineers at Yokohama Tire, working towards a similar goal, have come up with tires that are 80 percent petroleum-free, and they are also experimenting orange oils compounds which are found to reduce the rolling resistance in steady driving conditions by fifth over the conventional treads. The Primacy MXM4 all-weather tire, uses sun flower oil for improved traction at low temperatures and shorter braking distances in wet weather which supplies tires to Mercedes Benz.

Silica can be replaced by micro crystalline cellulose, an organic compound that is made from plant fibers on which a research is going on at Oregon State University. By watching this trend one can say that efforts to increase the use of eco friendly tires are growing.