Bridgestone Plant Was Praised For Environmental Friendliness
Posted on December 11, 2009
Filed Under Bridgestone Tires | Leave a Comment
Bridgestone plant in Aiken got “Spare the Air” award from the Healthcare and Environment Department of South Carolina.
As it is noted in the company’s announcement, when dealing with environmental issues the management of the plant is abide by the following principle: “Think globally, act locally”. The innovations aimed at the reduction of pollution allowed the plant to get the award.
“We are very glad that the authorities appraised our efforts, - said John Stewart, the manager of the plant. – Protection of the environment and wish to help local residents are the basic priorities both for our plant and our company, that’s why we ask each member of our team to participate directly in the reduction of environmental pollution. The taken measures bring benefit to our neighbors, families and the whole state”.
The “participants” help draw attention to the ecological problems by means of social advertisement and volunteer participation in special events. Besides this, the management of the plant encourages the workers to give each other a lift in case they live on the way to work, use motorcycles and hybrid vehicles that are provided with special parking places available only to those who “help minimize fuel consumption”.
Other mentioned innovations include the use of Innovative Tire Building Technology that allows to reduce emission of fluid organic compounds by 60%; the loaders work on hydrogen and don’t emit CO2; biodiesel equipment for maintenance; besides this 33 000 seedings of longleaf pine have been planted at the works.
Aiken plant was opened in 1998 and got LEED Silver certificate from the American Council for the construction of “green” houses that is handed for the effective use of energy and water, monitoring the use of resources and construction of facilities that retain heat. Bridgestone plants in South Carolina and Tennessee became the first plants awarded with the certificate.
Electric Cayenne With Hankook Tires Was Presented In Copenhagen
Posted on December 9, 2009
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The Hankook company has presented a winter tire for the cars that will be used by the participants of the UN Climate Change Conference which is currently being held in Copenhagen.
Among the cars there will be RUF Stormster (joint product of RUF Automobile and Siemens) that has been created on the platform of Porsche Cayenne and equipped with Hankook Icebear W300A UHP winter tires that feature improved safety level and fuel consumption efficiency. The combination of these properties has made the tires the ideal choice for the conference.
All electric cars such as RUF Stormster have higher torque if to compare with cars using fossil fuels.
The right choice of tires, reduced rolling resistance, transmission that doesn’t spend time on gear changing enable further increase of hauling capability. And these conditions are ideal for the new Hankook tire. Patented SCCT (Stiffness Control Contour Theory) technology ensures more uniform distribution of pressure in the contact patch what improves traction and durability of the tire. Besides this, SCCT technology also provides uniform distribution of pressure inside the tire what increases stability and reduces rolling resistance.
Innovative asymmetric tread pattern developed exclusively for SUVs also reduces fuel consumption level without sacrificing durability and driving performance. The siping system was optimized by computer to deliver effective braking performance what is extremely important in severe winter conditions.
The state-of-the-art Hankook Silica technology is applied for the balance between low rolling resistance and wet traction.
“SCCT technology was developed to minimize the harmful influence on the environment. That was the reason for our participation in the project, -said Jin-Wook Choi. – Environmental friendliness should be as essential as safety of the tires. We are very glad that our tires will be mounted on the vehicle that will be used during the UN conference”.
RUF Stormster is equipped with classical 5-spoke alloy wheels and Hankook W300A tires (size – 295/30R 22).
Pirelli Yielded to Hankook On The European Market?
Posted on December 8, 2009
Filed Under Bridgestone Tires, Continental Tires, Dunlop Tires, Goodyear Tires, Hankook Tires, Michelin Tires, Nokian Tires, Pirelli Tires, Toyo Tires, Yokohama Tires | Leave a Comment
Will Hankook push out Pirelli from the top five tire manufacturers of Europe?
The market research conducted by Hankook showed that the Michelin company remains an absolute leader on the tire market (both in segments of passenger and truck tires). At the same time a new player appeared in the previously stable top five – namely Hankook.
Why did Hankook decided to publish its research now, after one of the most difficult periods in the history of the market? It can be explained by the fact that 2009 was an extremely successful year for the Korean company. The peculiar combination of factors has changed the state of affairs during last 12 months. The major question now – will Hankook be able to retain its positions in Europe in the following years?
Here is the forecast of Hankook for the end of 2009 (passenger tires market): Michelin will remain the leader with the market stake of 20%, the second place goes to Goodyear Dunlop (18%), the third – to Bridgestone (12%), Pirelli has 8%. The most interesting fact here is that Hankook holds the 7th place with 7%. It means that its lagging behind Pirelli is not so big.
What concerns truck tires the first place again goes to Michelin (32%), the second place – Goodyear Dunlop (18%), Continental holds 16% of the market, Bridgestone – 13%. According to Hankook, it performs even better in this segment and holds the 5th place thus having overtaken Pirelli.
Since December has just begun the data can be regarded only as a forecast. At the same time Hankook gives 18% to other companies what means that its research is based on the analysis of the whole market. It also cannot be the result of companies that are members of ERMC Europool because the stake of Cooper and Trelleborg would be much higher in this case. Thus, there may be doubts regarding the correctness of the data in respect of sales volumes of Cooper, Kumho, GTRadial, Nexen, Nokian, Toyo, Yokohama etc. The rise of their stake will inevitably lead to the reduction of that of the five major companies. Anyway, only time can eliminate the doubts.
BioIsoprene Tires By Goodyear And Genencor
Posted on December 7, 2009
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Last week Goodyear presented the first in the world concept tires with the use of BioIsoprene technology at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.
The use of bioisoprene in the production of artificial rubber allows to replace regular isoprene made from oil products with isoprene made from renewable biomass. On December 21 one of the two new Goodyear tires will be exhibited in one of the terminals of the International Airport Of Copenhagen, the other will be presented during special events held within the framework of the UN Conference. Tires with the use of bioisoprene are the result of cooperation between Genencor, division of the Danisco company, and Goodyear, one of the major tire manufacturers and leader of innovations.
“We achieved a very important stage in our cooperation with Goodyear on the development of innovative biochemical materials, said Tom Knutzen, executive director of Danisco. – Invention of bioisoprene once again proves the leading role of Danisco and its division Genencor in the industry of biotechnologies”.
“The first Goodyear concept tires with the use of bioisoprene is a proof of our progress in the use of biological analogue of the conventional isoprene made from oil, - noted Jesse Roeck, the head of Goodyear materials research department. – The creation of bioisoprene and the use of renewable raw materials will allow to reduce the negative influence of the production of the tires on the environment as well as diminish the dependence of Goodyear on the production of oil products”.
Creation of bioisoprene that can be made on the base of renewable resources is a great step up both for biochemical and tire industry. Conventional isoprene is used not only for the production of artificial rubber in the tire industry but also for the production of a whole range of goods from surgical gloves and golf balls to glue materials what means a great potential of the isoprene production.
