8 March 2012
Overview
Bridgestone Corporation
announced that Bridgestone's group plans
for an extensive research project in
the United States dedicated to developing
Guayule (pronounced why-u-lee)
as a commercially viable renewable source of
high-quality natural rubber and
as alternative to the Hevea tree
Objectives
The Bridegstone Group will leverage the knowledge and
experiments it gained through its participation in a
Guayule research project with the U.S. Department of Agriculture
from 1988 to 1991, which focused on extracting rubber for
tires from the biomass of Guayule, In this new project.
The successful commercial development of Guayule will
* diversify the source of nature rubber for the tire and
rubber industry and
* reduce today's heavy reliance on
"Hevea Brasiliensis" which has a limited growing area
restricted to tropical climates close to the equator
By contrast Guayule is native to desert climate with
a huge potential growing area.
Timeframe
* The project is being done by Bridgestone Americas Tire
Operation (BATO) in collaboration with BSJ.
* BSJ is providing the funding and strategic input for the effort,
while BATO will be responsible for finding the suitable location
and operating the pilot farm and process research facility.
* BATO will also leverage the resources of the Bridgestone Americas
Center of Research and Technology and its Akron Technical
Center to provide technical and research expertise.
* BATO is currently seeking land to establish the pilot farm
and construct the rubber process research center in the
Southwestern United States.
* Research and Development will be conducted by a dedicated
research team of agricultural scientists, engineers and
process technicians focused on optimizing the agronomics
and processing technologies necessary to produce
world-class, tire-grade rubber in adequate quantities
appropriate for manufacturing.
* The company expected to finalize a location, establish
the research farm and begin construction on the
process research center later in 2012.
* The facility is expected to be fully operational in 2014.
Trial rubber production should start in 2015.
About Guayule (pronounced why-u-lee)
* Guayule is a perennial shrub native to the southwestern
United States and northern Mexico.
* This plant produces natural rubber in its barks and roots.
Natural rubber from Guayule has almost identical qualities
compared to natural rubber harvested from Hevea trees,
which is the primarily source of natural rubber used in tires.
WWW.CHEMWINFO.COM BY KHUN PHICHAI
