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Tires from Sugar Cane

Tire producers may be using a derivative of sugar cane for commercial manufacturing as early as 2013. The new liquid-rubber additive, made from a farnesene-based biomass product, replaces some of the petroleum-based components used in today's tires.

Experiments are currently underway to verify the performance of the new tires. By binding the rubber and carbon back together more tightly, it is expected that they will deform less, giving them lower resistance and energy loss, thereby increasing fuel efficiency.

For More Information: Kuraray Co. Ltd., Ote Center Building, 1-1-3, Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8115, Japan; phone: +81-3-6701-1000; fax: +81-3-6701-1005; Web site: www.kuraray.co.jp/en/
Daniel Burrus' Top Twenty Technology-Driven Trends for 2012