Here’s some food for thought.
We have managed to improve the technology in our cars, so that tailpipe emissions are now considered to be minor. (Note: That is not true for the emissions from big rigs, those tractor trailers that haul our freight around the country. They still produce volumes of pollutants- hence the push for the electrification of their engines- or to convert them to use hydrogen fuel cells.)
Which brings up a new set of problems.
Yup. Cars are still a problem- but now the components that create the problems are our tires and our brakes.
No, these devices are not producing toxic fumes- but small particulates. You know, the ones known as PM2.5. These particulates end up in our lungs and our hearts, creating havoc with our health. And, many of these particulates find their way into our rivers and streams as rains pound our pavements and wash them into the catchments.
And, it’s going to get worse. Because those EV’s for which everyone is clamoring are heavier (oftentimes, 50% heavier!). Which means greater shedding of our tires as we drive and more peeling of particulates as we attempt to slow down these heavier vehicles.
It doesn’t help that we don’t regulate these non-tailpipe emissions. And, that brakes are comprised of metallic components, which can persist longer in the environment. (Note that many of these particulate emissions from tires and brakes exceed the volume of tailpipe components by far. Dr. Heejung Jung (team members included Dr. G Wu and M Princevac also from UC Riverside, M Zhang [Cornell], A Chen [Nevada], X Wang [Desert Research Institute], and S Shiraiwa [UC Irvine] studied these emissions on I5 and I80 [Long Beach and Anaheim {CA}, respectively], where they found 30% of the PM 2.5 were contributed by tires and brakes, while exhaust emissions registered 19% of the totals. )
The California Air Resources Board has considered regulating these components, but has not yet done so. It really iśa critical matter, since we have data indicate that tires produce 2000X the particulate emissions as those from tailpipes. (This is another reason why we need to change the air filters protecting the passenger cabins of cars frequently- to keep those particulates away from our lungs and hearts.)
Which is why developments in Ohio (in conjunction with Farmed Materials) may become of interest. There, they are growing taraxacum kok-sophyz, a dandelion variety, that can be converted into the manufacture of tires. (Moreover, these dandelions can be harvested every six months [twice a year], which is much quicker than the seven year cycle for rubber trees.) This would both lessen greenhouse gas emissions, as well as particulate pollution.
Looks like we have some big changes coming soon.
