Parthenium argentatum Gray, commonly known as guayule, native to the south western United States & northern Mexico4
Credit: US Department of Agriculture/Flickr/Green Car Reports
A substantial part of the cost & environmental impact of many products is the energy used in transporting raw materials to the site of manufacture.
Rubber is produced commercially from petroleum (synthetic rubber) & sap of the Hevea brasiliensis1 tree (natural rubber). 94% of natural rubber is sourced from Asia2.
As a strategically important material, rubber supply has security implications for many nations.
A number of plants, apart from Hevea have been used as a source of natural rubber in the past2,3. One such, is Parthenium argentatum Gray4, commonly known as guayule, native to the south western United States & northern Mexico.
As a desert plant, one of its advantages is that it can be grown on land which is good for little else.
A number of prominent companies, including Bridgestone, Ford & Cooper, together with Ohio State University, have recently been researching guayule rubber for automotive use. Cooper has already made some tire components from guayule rubber & has promised a complete tire in 2017.
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1099704_cooper-tire-we-will-make-complete-tire-from-desert-shrub-in-2017
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1 "Hevea", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hevea
2 "Natural rubber", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_rubber#Current_sources
3 "History of attempts to commercialize Guayule in South Australia as a source of natural rubber", http://pir.sa.gov.au/aghistory/minor_crops/guayule
4 "Parthenium argentatum", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenium_argentatum / lowering environmental impact car changing materials components U.S. tire industry substitutes imported natural rubber petroleum synthetic rubber Cooper Tire demonstrate tires components made from the guayule plant a desert shrub Southwestern United States Mexico make a complete tire guayule-sourced rubber 2017 PanAridus plants manufactures rubber Cornell University Clemson University guayule substitute costly imported rubber environmentally questionable petroleum Bridgestone bio-rubber research manufacturing center Ford partnership Ohio State University find automotive uses startup Yulex Cooper tire project PanAridus working use guayule rubber consumer products wet suits Patagonia Cooper's project $6.9 million Biomass Research and Development Initiative grant administered jointly U.S. Department of Energy US Department of Agriculture yielding latex processed into rubber produces resin used in adhesives flavors fragrances biofuel fibrous material plant made into biofuel construction materials cultivating guayule alternative hevea source of natural rubber early 1900s World War II advancing Japanese forces cut off U.S. access to hevea Guayule grows much faster than hevea advantages Hevea less prone to cracking less heat buildup rubber guayule some tire components from 100-percent guayule rubber replacing domestically-sourced material tyres
tires 70 percent of global rubber use demand is expected to grow countries fully industrialize industrial /
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