Natural rubber is rather hard to get, as the trees from which it is cultivated from only grow in certain areas and the method of obtaining it is difficult and time-consuming. Synthetic rubber, on the other hand, is not too tough to create, though it generally comes from petroleum -- not necessarily the greatest compromise. Researchers at The Ohio State University have begun work on a new processing plant which is designed to create natural rubber from the lowly Dandelion plant. The specific plant is the Taraxacum kok-saghyz (TKS), more commonly referred to as the Russian Dandelion. Ten to twenty-percent of that plant's root is ready to make rubber, and researchers believe that plants could be modified for even better yields.

Plenty of rubber can be cultivated from the weeds, with the OSU researchers estimating that they can produce between twenty and sixty-million tons of the stuff annually from their initial processing plant. A certain portion of that rubber will go to tire manufacturer Bridgestone for research. Initial testing has been very positive, meaning that we could someday be rolling on dubs made from yellow weeds.

[Source: Discovery News]

The Chinese auto industry is booming, as you are surely aware by now. While many are concerned with the emissions of those vehicles, as they should be, there are myriads of other related problems to worry about. One problem which is cropping up relates to tire production, which, of course, requires rubber.

Apparently, China's been importing lots of rubber for its growing number of tire factories from other countries which have already cleared land for the production of rubber. In order to reduce the amount of rubber that they need to import, China is looking to produce more rubber locally, but only has a limited area suitable for growing the rubber trees. For that reason, a good deal of rainforest land is being cleared to make way for more rubber plantations. The China Rubber Industry Association forecasts that natural rubber output will grow by 30 percent to 780,000 tons by 2010.

[Source: Just-Auto]