Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. research scientist Dr. Howard Colvin will present a paper at the 24th annual meeting of the Association for the Advancement of Industrial Crops (AAIC) Nov. 15, 2012, in Sonoma, Calif.
The paper is titled, “Securing the Future of Natural Rubber -- An American Tire and Bio-Energy Platform from Guayule.” The AAIC meeting focuses on “Developing Sustainable Solutions.”
Colvin’s presentation provides an overview of the $6.9 million Biomass Research and Development Initiative Grant that Cooper, in conjunction with research partners including Yulex Corp. and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), through its Agricultural Research Service (ARS), received in July from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the USDA.
The four-year grant focuses on research efforts aimed at developing enhanced manufacturing processes, testing and utilizing of guayule natural rubber as a strategic raw material in tires, and evaluating the remaining biomass of the guayule plant as a source of bio-fuel for the transportation industry.
Dr. Colleen McMahan, AAIC president and a member of the ARS team working with Cooper, is hosting the AAIC annual meeting. Leif Christoffersen, director of agriculture and biomass at Yulex, is also a speaker.
"By partnering with the consortium members, we will significantly decrease the time necessary to bring this technology to commercialization for the industry," says Colvin. "The goal of this effort is to decrease our reliance on off-shore raw materials while creating new jobs for American workers."
For more information on alternative tire materials, check out these links:
"Cooper gets grant for guayule plant."
"Bridgestone will build guayule farm in Arizona."
"New rubber source: Russian dandelions?"
"Flower power: Vredestein's Quatrac Lite."
