Goodyear South Africa’s managing director suggests looking beyond powertrains and fuel alternatives as the only solutions to reducing emissions.
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The Goodyear tyre and rubber company exec promises to introduce a maintenance-free tyre comprised of 100% sustainable material by 2030.
“The discussion that has dominated the front pages has tended towards the transition from ICE to EV or changing the fuel that the engine burns. However, it serves to remember that the average car has approximately 30 000 parts in an ICE car – from the large body panels, down to the smallest screws and nuts,” – Richard Fourie, Managing Director, Goodyear South Africa
In 2021, Goodyear unveiled a tyre that relied on carbon blacks produced from methane, carbon dioxide, and plant-based oils, replacing the traditional compounds widely used in tyre-making. Additional materials used in that tyre included soybean oil, rice husk ash silica, and polyester from recycled bottles.
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“And earlier in January this year, Goodyear debuted a prototype 90% sustainable-material tyre at the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas. This latest development not only sets a new standard in sustainable tyre technology, but also showed lower rolling resistance when compared to tyres made with traditional materials. Such developments, aimed at reducing the auto industry’s overall carbon footprint, are just as important in the pursuit of the greener drive”
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In 2020, Emissions Analytics, an independent global testing and data specialist in real-world emissions and fuel efficiency, released a report claiming that the pollution produced from tyre wear was significantly greater than that of exhaust emissions. Since then, tyre manufacturers such as Michelin and Goodyear have come under increased pressure to address the issue of pollution caused by the particles produced by tyre wear alongside the environmentally harmful compounds used to create tyres. Recent revisions introduced to the Euro 7 regulations now include non-exhaust emissions, specifically the particles produced by a vehicle’s brakes and tyres.
“It, therefore, stands to reason that we need to be looking into other components of mobility, beyond just powertrains and fuel types, when we work to address the topic of achieving a greener drive experience.”
