It looks like wood is in everything these days. Tires will soon join the list.

 

French tire giant Michelin says its wood-based tires could be ready for the road in less than two years.

 

Cyrille Roget, the company's director of scientific and innovation communication, told Motoring.com.au that a switch to wood has a range of benefits, including a reduced reliance on oil and lower production costs.

 

Michelin hopes to slowly wean itself off of oil, and it believes wood chips are a perfect alternative. According to Roget, approximately 80 percent of the materials in a standard car tire come from the oil industry. Using waste from the wood industry, the company will derive elastomers (flexible polymers) from the waste, and place them into tires.

 

This could allow people all over the world to have local sources for their tire materials, instead of relying on oil producers, says Michelin.

 

Roget said the company plans to introduce its wood-based tires in 2020.

 

Tires will join shoes, sticky tape, and alcohol in new and inventive things sourced from wood.