Experts at the automotive service industry trade fair Automechanika 2016 recently recognised the research and development work of Continental by presenting its “Taraxagum – Dandelion Rubber Tires” project the Innovation and the Green Award. The project involves producing rubber that can be used in both tyres and ther rubber products from the roots of the Russian dandelion plant.
But this is not the first recognition that the company and the project has gotten over the years. In 2014, for example, the project received the “Green Tec Award”, and in 2015 the research team was awarded the Joseph von Fraunhofer prize from the Fraunhofer Society.
“Our Taraxagum project demonstrates one aspect of the material development involved in the tyres of the future. We are working both on improving our products’ technical performance and on making the tyre compound and its production process significantly more sustainable,” said Maria Hanczuch from the Continental Business Development for Passenger and Light Truck Tires business unit, who was in Frankfurt to accept the award.
Around five years ago, Continental collaborated with the IME Fraunhofer Institute, Münster, the Julius Kühn Institute, Quedlinburg, and plant breeding expert ESKUSA, Parkstetten to begin work on the development of the Taraxagum.
The Russian dandelion was cultivated in a way that would enable its long-term per-hectare production in similar quantities to the traditional rubber tree, Hevea brasiliensis, from the tropics. Through this project, the company hopes to become a little less dependent on developments on the global rubber market.
New production methods, that allow the natural rubber required for the production of tyres and other rubber products to be extracted from the latex sap of the plant, have been developed by Continental.
Initial batches of passenger car winter tyres, commercial vehicle tyres, and engine mounts using the Taraxagum rubber have already been produced. Tests carried out at the corporation’s own test sites prove that the dandelion rubber performs at least as well as traditionally extracted natural rubber in equivalent standard products.
The plants can also be cultivated in Northern and Western Europe. Therefore, long transportation routes can be avoided. These routes previously had to cover the distance from the “rubber belt” in the tropics 30 degrees north and south of the equator. This saves valuable resources and reduces CO2 emissions.
Continental recently announced the construction of a research facility in Anklam, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, for the production of rubber from the latex sap of the Russian dandelion and plans to invest around EUR35 million in this new location by 2021.