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posted by martyb on Saturday October 29 2016, @06:03PM   Printer-friendly
from the what-other-uses-are-there-for-latex? dept.

The company subbed in dandelion latex for the regular stuff in a batch of its winter tires (WinterContact TS 850 Ps) and after many miles of testing in Sweden and Germany, the company has decided dandelions are an acceptable replacement. "Winter tires typically have a higher amount of natural rubber, and the test was not to change the recipe at all, just a one-to-one swap from the rubber tree to the dandelion rubber," Zmolek told us. "They performed exactly as expected, which showed we were able to do this swap."

Right now, Continental is working with the Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology, the Julius Kuehn-Institute, and the plant breeder Aeskulap to breed strains of the plant with optimized rubber yields. "The challenge is not in the technology itself, but the agronomy, so we can rely on it as a continuous source," Zmolek told us. Assuming that goes to plan, we should start to see dandelion tires on sale in the next five to ten years.

SoylentNews has touched on the subject of latex in dandelions before. It looks like one manufacturer is planning to use them in production tires.


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  • (Score: 2) by Nerdfest on Saturday October 29 2016, @06:35PM

    by Nerdfest (80) on Saturday October 29 2016, @06:35PM (#420199)

    They can be used for salad greens and wine can be made from them as well. It sure doesn't take much to grow them.

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  • (Score: 5, Funny) by davester666 on Saturday October 29 2016, @07:22PM

    by davester666 (155) on Saturday October 29 2016, @07:22PM (#420220)

    Yes, it does. You have to make the effort to have a nice field of grass. Only then do you get an excellent crop of dandelions.

    • (Score: 2) by Joe Desertrat on Saturday October 29 2016, @09:16PM

      by Joe Desertrat (2454) on Saturday October 29 2016, @09:16PM (#420257)

      Yes, it does. You have to make the effort to have a nice field of grass. Only then do you get an excellent crop of dandelions.

      I assume that was meant as a joke, but I spent time collecting dandelion seeds once with the idea of growing them in a flower pot to collect the greens. I could not get a single one to sprout.

      • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @11:44PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @11:44PM (#420351)

        They are seasonal. They also like semi dry to slightly moist soil. Basically the ideal conditions to grow grass is almost exactly the same for dandelions.

        For me they seem to thrive in slightly shaded areas. So they are not OK with intense sunlight for 10 hours straight. They grow better with 4-5 hours of direct per day.

        I would suspect burring the seeds more than 1-3mm under dirt would be ideal. Any deeper and they probably would not grow at all.

        I have been fighting a 30 year battle with these suckers. I have found carpet type grasses work best against them, like zoysia.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 30 2016, @04:13PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 30 2016, @04:13PM (#420539)

          Forget the zoysia. Almost anything non-grass will do far better.

          Plant pine trees. You'll get a nice carpet of pine needles that stop all weeds.

          Plant oak trees. They have some effect like the pine trees, and they also block all the light. You'll have nearly bare dirt.

          Plant English ivy, strangler figs, trumpet vine, or kudzu. This may cover your house too.

          Add salt water, then plant sea grape and coconut. The salt will stop the dandelions.

          Add much more salt water, then plant mangroves. Little else will grow.

          Stop watering, add granite, and plant lichen.