Life-Cycle Environmental Impact of Michelin Tweel ^® Tire for Passenger Vehicles 2011-01-0093

Recently Michelin has been developing a new airless, integrated tire and wheel combination called the Tweel® tire. The Tweel tire aims at performance levels beyond those possible with conventional pneumatic technology because of its shear band design, added suspension, and potentially decreased rolling resistance. In this paper, we will focus on the environmental impact of the Tweel tire during its life-cycle from manufacturing, through use and disposal. Since the Tweel tire is currently still in the research phase and is not manufactured and used on a large scale, there are uncertainties with respect to end-of-life scenarios and rolling resistance estimates that will affect the LCA. Nevertheless, some preliminary conclusions of the Tweel tire's environmental performance in comparison to a conventional radial tire can be drawn.