AFTERMARKET: Greener Tires for a Healthier Environment

The automotive industry is far from the most ecologically-conscious sector in the planet. From emissions, to carbon footprint, to harmful manufacturing processes, it's hard to admit it, but our beloved industry is a major contributor to pollution, churning out significant amounts of carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, hydrocarbons, and other toxic chemicals into the atmosphere. But all is not lost, because as whole, the automotive industry is working very hard to shrink its ill effects.

Green tires to save the day

The term 'green tires' has been thrown about for years, referring to a new generation of environmentally-friendly rubber for vehicles. Several tire companies have developed their own version of 'green tires' to reduce carbon emissions. These efforts focused on two things: the manufacturing processes, and the tires themselves. Examples of greener tire-making methods include lightweighting (to reduce fuel consumption), rubber compound alternatives (using soybean oil to replace petroleum), and active technologies (linking tire systems to onboard cameras and sensors to detect road and environment conditions). As for actual 'green tires,' here are some examples by manufacturer:

Bridgestone's Ecopia

The Bridgestone Ecopia is a low-rolling resistance tires designed to decrease the energy loss as a tire rolls, thus reducing the required rolling effort. Using the Ecopia helps you squeeze more mileage out of your car.

Hankook's Kontrol Technology

More than an actual product, Kontrol Technology is a philosophy that Hankook imbues into its tire products to limit noise, vibrations and harshness so drivers can always have optimal handling even under the worst driving conditions.

Michelin's Green X

Like the Ecopia, Michelin's Green X promotes low rolling resistance through the optimization of the tire's weight, tread design, and internal structure. All this is done to reduce vehicle fuel consumption and its emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases.

Pirelli's Scorpion Verde

If it isn't obvious by now, 'verde' is the Italian word for 'green.' Specifically designed for SUVs and crossovers, the Scorpion Verde delivers low rolling resistance and reduced weight to ensure lower fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, thus combining savings, respect for the environment, comfort and safety on all road surfaces.