Filed under: Green
Vegetarian radials? Defatted soy eyed as tire filler substitute
by Jeremy Korzeniewski on Jan 6th 2009 at 1:59PM 
There's more that one way to green a car, and many of the most interesting technological advancements don't involve powering an internal combustion engine. Consider that much of the fabric, plastic and rubber that goes into a car's construction is derived from petroleum, and you see why alternatives are becoming increasingly attractive. Automakers have taken up corn-based plastics and soy-based seat foam, and now the latest greenery comes by way of defatted soy flour. The latter is an organic substance that's being considered as a replacement for the petroleum-based "carbon black" rubber particles that are currently specified in the vast majority of tires.The technology has a long way to go before we could be driving on soybeans, and there are likely issues involving using a possible feedstock as a petroleum replacement (again) that will need to be worked out. Still, as pressure builds to abandon the use of petroleum in as many ways as possible, advancements are likely to become a bigger part of our day-to-day transportation needs.
[Source: DairyHerd.com]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
JTB 2:05PM (1/06/2009)
Huh, wonder what tire company is trying that?
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Rochester, NY 2:12PM (1/06/2009)
It would certainly complement all those pale-green hybrids out there.
What ever happened to the rubber-spoked, airless tire? I thought that was supposed to be the next wave of tire tech.
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pmiddle5 2:13PM (1/06/2009)
Ive always felt like the "food stock" thing is kinda dumb. Why not just plant more of it through contracts thus not hurting causing a shortage of supply! No no, that wouldnt be fun. Then you couldnt let the price sky rocket for the companies benefit.
Arrrr.
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BigMcLargeHuge 2:35PM (1/06/2009)
The problem is many farms are already overtaxing their soil due to the profitability of corn-based ethanol, leading to an increase in the already widespread runoff problem.
Increasing yields is more about keeping the plants healthy than planting more per acre. And crop science has yielded a 200%+ increase in output per acre over the past 100 years as a result.
Sanders 2:58PM (1/06/2009)
You forgot to mention the accelerating soil erosion also. Throw in future water shortages, a good fungus or insect created blight, and you've got a recipe for future human cannibalism. No worries, it won't be our generation or the next that sees it. We'll be long dead.
Rick 3:16PM (1/06/2009)
@Sanders
"but we'll all be dead"
Nice, cheery thought for the day. You must be a 'killer' at parties.
catfish 4:25PM (1/06/2009)
your all forgetting the land the government currently pays farmers not to grow anything on...
IOMTT 2:15PM (1/06/2009)
So when you smoke these things, will it smell like one of those nasty soy-bean burgers being microwaved???
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dinnercoat 2:18PM (1/06/2009)
Yet another hippy-"green" soy product to encourage slash and burn of South American rain forests.
I tried to word that more eloquently but I just couldn't, I apologize.
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John 2:21PM (1/06/2009)
Um... small problem with the idea of planting more. While there is definitely fallow farmland out there (made so by government, "pay you not to farm" subsidies), there's still only so much land out there. The idea of putting the basic foddstuffs that underpin our diets (and those of the animals we eat) into cars is patently stupid. Once someone figures out how to make tires and gasoline out of crabgrass, poison ivy, and brussel sprouts, I'll be on board.
Til then, I guess I need to plan on eating my tires and drinking my gasoline.
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BenS 2:45PM (1/06/2009)
I'd buy a pair just to smoke in front of the hippies on my way to In-N-Out.
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Velvet_Kevorkian 3:00PM (1/06/2009)
There is already a small company with a better tire on the market. The real question is, what lengths do we at motorists want to take in order to ween off our dependency of petroleum products?
http://www.amerityre.com/
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Samurai Jack 3:36PM (1/06/2009)
Heck, there's a guy making fuel out of kudzu. I think someone is going to find a way to make tires without using food to do it. Until recently no one has had a real incentive. Just give them some time...
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Mazda FTW! 3:55PM (1/06/2009)
A whole new meaning to the 'ol 'lets pullover and get a bite to eat'.
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1970Dodge 5:52PM (1/06/2009)
Why not just make 'em out of wood like the good ol' days?
...For one thing it could take a nail in it.
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Rick 11:40AM (1/07/2009)
I can see farmers with a real problem of cows eating the tires on their trucks.
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rob 5:05PM (1/07/2009)
Tires are black for a reason, the additive that makes them black is a UV protectant. I am sure they would still add this, soo they wouldn't be green in color. P.S. When did car guys become such tree hugging hippies. yeah, yeah save the environment and all, but I think it is messed up that carbon emissions have become such a high priority for car buyers. Whatever happened to form, function, and acceleration? I work in a field that is dominated by "green building". I know that in my industry most of the eco-friendly products are a sham and are just as bad for the environment as any other product, if you follow the production process bact to the raw materials and energy used (and at twice the price!). I do not know if this is true in the auto industry, but I'd bet on it. Oh, and if you think Manmade Global Warming is true, PROVE IT! There is absolutly no evidence that we are the cause. I think is is a good thing everyone is trying to be eco-friendly, but come on, we are supposed to be talking about new bodystyles and high performance engines.
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stas peterson 11:00PM (1/14/2009)
You would be surprised at the amount of petroleum that is consumed making carbon black, the rubber reinforcer used in tires and many rubber products. To make carbon black the recipe is to take a barrel of oil and burn it as inefficiently and as smoky as you can, and then collect the soot from the burning.
That the recipe for basic carbon black. Carbon black is an "engineered" material, much like popcorn with lots of surface area to stick to rubber molecules. As much as 5% of all oil, is consumed making carbon black and synthetic rubber. In nice round terms that is about a million barrels of oil a day, out of the 20 million barrels a day we consume here in the USA.
Many people including my firm have been trying to recycle carbon black with little success to date. Recycling has yet to fill even a small portion of that carbon black available in scrap rubber and waste tires.
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