DOE Funds PPG, Bridgestone to Develop Fuel-Efficient Truck and Bus Tires
PPG (NYSE: PPG) has announced that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is providing funding to support a $1.25 million collaborative project with Bridgestone to improve the fuel efficiency of truck and bus radial tires using PPG’s AGILON® performance silica platform.
The goal of the project is to deliver prototype tires to DOE that help trucks and buses achieve fuel-efficiency improvements of 4 to 6 percent while maintaining or improving tear strength and tread wear. Research and development work for the project will be completed at PPG’s Monroeville, Pennsylvania, facility.
According to Anup Jain, PPG vice president, specialty coatings and materials, “The DOE funding validates what our preliminary research already has shown – that Agilon performance silica has significant potential as a next-generation filler to help increase truck tire fuel efficiency.”
Here’s what’s at stake: Improving the fuel efficiency of trucks and buses would provide significant economic and environmental benefits. According to DOE reports, heavy-duty vehicles comprise only 4 percent of all vehicles on U.S. roads but consume approximately 20 percent of all fuel.
PPG estimates that if even 25 percent of all tractor-trailers on the road improved fuel efficiency by 4 percent, they would consume 750 million fewer gallons of diesel fuel annually, saving nearly $2 billion and reducing carbon-dioxide (CO2) emissions by nearly 8 million metric tons.
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