4 ms·

Tire makers race to turn dandelions into rubber

38 points by ximeng 12y ago

gcb4 12y ago
Japanese's tires in early 2000 were mostly made of orange peel oil. wasn't a commercial success. today one brand still has one line that supposedly sell in the usa but i can't find it anywhere.
- PublicEnemy111 12y ago
  Yokohama? http://www.yokohamatire.com/news/detail/1992 http://www.yokohamatire.com/news/detail/1992
  - gcb4 12y ago
    yes. that's the one advertised but impossible to buy in the usa. i recall only place i found it at the time had a 4x price hike over the advertised market price.
gokhan 12y ago
More details on research page: http://www.igb.fraunhofer.de/en/competences/molecular-biotechnology/industrial-biotechnology/rubber.html http://www.igb.fraunhofer.de/en/competences/molecular-biotec...
- rmtew 12y ago
  Presumably, this is the quoted 60-year old but not cost effective process: http://www.google.com/patents/US2393035 http://www.google.com/patents/US2393035
netman21 12y ago
I read once that Thomas Jefferson investigated raising milkweed, which also contains a lot of latex. He wanted to disrupt the rubber tree industry.
brokentone 12y ago
Eerily similar to this Pushing Daisies episode: http://pushing-daisies.wikia.com/wiki/Dandy_Lion_SX http://pushing-daisies.wikia.com/wiki/Dandy_Lion_SX
mojoe 12y ago
This was the part that surprised me the most: "Passenger car tires need to have 10-40 percent natural rubber content to allow them to stay flexible at low temperatures and to keep tiny cracks from growing. Truck and aircraft tires need an even higher percentage." I had always assumed that modern tires were completely synthetic. Very interesting.
zaroth 12y ago
The article is claiming $3,000 per hectare per year under ideal conditions, perhaps closer to 1/3rd that on a real farm. But compare that to average revenue per hectare of closer to $300 / ha / year. [1] So when the farmers say, just tell me when I can start growing it, they aren't kidding. Very interesting research. [1] - http://www.savills.co.uk/research_articles/141565/142402-0 http://www.savills.co.uk/research_articles/141565/142402-0

38 points by ximeng 12y ago

gcb4 12y ago

Japanese's tires in early 2000 were mostly made of orange peel oil. wasn't a commercial success. today one brand still has one line that supposedly sell in the usa but i can't find it anywhere.

PublicEnemy111 12y ago
Yokohama? http://www.yokohamatire.com/news/detail/1992 http://www.yokohamatire.com/news/detail/1992
- gcb4 12y ago
  yes. that's the one advertised but impossible to buy in the usa. i recall only place i found it at the time had a 4x price hike over the advertised market price.

gokhan 12y ago

More details on research page: http://www.igb.fraunhofer.de/en/competences/molecular-biotechnology/industrial-biotechnology/rubber.html http://www.igb.fraunhofer.de/en/competences/molecular-biotec...

rmtew 12y ago
Presumably, this is the quoted 60-year old but not cost effective process: http://www.google.com/patents/US2393035 http://www.google.com/patents/US2393035

netman21 12y ago

I read once that Thomas Jefferson investigated raising milkweed, which also contains a lot of latex. He wanted to disrupt the rubber tree industry.

brokentone 12y ago

Eerily similar to this Pushing Daisies episode: http://pushing-daisies.wikia.com/wiki/Dandy_Lion_SX http://pushing-daisies.wikia.com/wiki/Dandy_Lion_SX

mojoe 12y ago

This was the part that surprised me the most: "Passenger car tires need to have 10-40 percent natural rubber content to allow them to stay flexible at low temperatures and to keep tiny cracks from growing. Truck and aircraft tires need an even higher percentage." I had always assumed that modern tires were completely synthetic. Very interesting.

zaroth 12y ago

The article is claiming $3,000 per hectare per year under ideal conditions, perhaps closer to 1/3rd that on a real farm. But compare that to average revenue per hectare of closer to $300 / ha / year. [1] So when the farmers say, just tell me when I can start growing it, they aren't kidding. Very interesting research. [1] - http://www.savills.co.uk/research_articles/141565/142402-0 http://www.savills.co.uk/research_articles/141565/142402-0