ecSeq at Week of the Environment in the park of Bellevue Palace with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier
Posted on July 06, 2021
ecSeq at the "Week of the Environment" in the park of Bellevue Palace with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier
The demand for tires for passenger cars, commercial vehicles, etc., but also for other rubber products, is causing a worldwide increase in demand for natural rubber. A truck tire, for example, contains up to 25 kg of the renewable rubber, whose excellent technical properties are currently not matched by synthetic polymers. To date, natural rubber has been obtained exclusively from the latex of the rubber tree Hevea brasiliensis, which grows in the tropics. In order to meet global demand in the medium term without tropical virgin forests having to make way for additional rubber plantations, alternative sources of natural rubber are needed. Russian dandelion Taraxacum koksaghyz, which can also be grown in temperate climates, produces a qualitatively comparable milky sap. In perspective, it is capable of diversifying rubber production and, in the process, preventing the depletion of endangered rainforests. However, Russian dandelion also offers the opportunity to increase the diversity of crops in domestic fields.
Find more information about the research project and ecSeq's involvement in this information leaflet by the FNR, the central coordinating agency in the area of renewable resources in Germany:
