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