182
9 Reinforcement in the Twenty-First Century
Further, EV development may create a ripple effect on the other industries. At
present, the business on secondary batteries, particularly lithium-ion battery, is much
activated, and main electronics companies are aligning with car makers. Furthermore,
since the improvement of lithium-ion battery is assumed to be at the heart of EV
development [9, 66–71], lithium mining is currently under a heavy competition [72,
73]. Though lithium-mining operations exist on every continent, up to three-fourths
of the known lithium reserves are in the Altiplano-Puna Plateau, a long stretch in the
Andes. There, the salt bed deposits are concentrated in the ‘Lithium Triangle’ where
Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile hold the border in common. Under the global economy,
it is quite natural that international large-scale enterprises are playing a tight race in
the competition for lithium mining. And, here again, China is highly competitive.
How the mining will contribute to the sustainable economic development of the three
countries is to be seen, inclusive of environmental concerns of the area by the mining
and processing of lithium.
The EV shift movement is, however, not gaining momentum, enough to meet the
need of decelerating the global warming. Just within the EV development arena, the
achievement of fully automatic driving, i.e., driving without driver is still remote. In
the first place, unmanned driving may not be the final goal of automatic driving, and its
practice should be highly conditional even if it be technically possible. Otherwise, the
unmanned driving would be spread without limit in accordance with the strong laborsaving trend. For a moment, it may be beneficial to apply in the urban areas. There,
autonomous shuttle service in the high-density urban areas is rationally meeting to
the evolving transportation needs. In general, however, the first of the objectives of,
e.g., the Mobility as a Service (MaaS) movement has to be for the benefit of the
people in need of safe and cheap transportation. In MaaS, for examples, children,
the physically handicapped, and the aged people are to be taken care of specifically.
Not only technical possibility intrinsic to automobiles but also socially friendly and
in accord with sustainable development (SD) is to be within the ultimate objectives.
Furthermore, installation of the battery charger station has not been catching up the
need to the increasing number of EV in many countries, which is another kind of
technical assignments. The problems that EV is confronting are still many, and among
them tires’ may not be the main. Still, from the viewpoint of reinforced rubber, the
decrease of tire weight and a few other existing assignments are to be investigated
more.
9.3.2 Future of Reinforced Rubbery Materials
In the arena of rubber materials, alternative NRs to the NR from Hevea trees are
highlighted [8, 9, 63, 74–84]. Those from guayule (Parthenium argentatum) and
rubber dandelion (Taraxacum kok-saghyz) had been studied for a long time, and
the interest in them survived late in the twentieth century. Now both are actively
investigated widely, and the cultivation of guayule plants is again established in the
USA and, that of rubber dandelion is planned in Europe and in the USA, too. The
9 Reinforcement in the Twenty-First Century
Further, EV development may create a ripple effect on the other industries. At
present, the business on secondary batteries, particularly lithium-ion battery, is much
activated, and main electronics companies are aligning with car makers. Furthermore,
since the improvement of lithium-ion battery is assumed to be at the heart of EV
development [9, 66–71], lithium mining is currently under a heavy competition [72,
73]. Though lithium-mining operations exist on every continent, up to three-fourths
of the known lithium reserves are in the Altiplano-Puna Plateau, a long stretch in the
Andes. There, the salt bed deposits are concentrated in the ‘Lithium Triangle’ where
Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile hold the border in common. Under the global economy,
it is quite natural that international large-scale enterprises are playing a tight race in
the competition for lithium mining. And, here again, China is highly competitive.
How the mining will contribute to the sustainable economic development of the three
countries is to be seen, inclusive of environmental concerns of the area by the mining
and processing of lithium.
The EV shift movement is, however, not gaining momentum, enough to meet the
need of decelerating the global warming. Just within the EV development arena, the
achievement of fully automatic driving, i.e., driving without driver is still remote. In
the first place, unmanned driving may not be the final goal of automatic driving, and its
practice should be highly conditional even if it be technically possible. Otherwise, the
unmanned driving would be spread without limit in accordance with the strong laborsaving trend. For a moment, it may be beneficial to apply in the urban areas. There,
autonomous shuttle service in the high-density urban areas is rationally meeting to
the evolving transportation needs. In general, however, the first of the objectives of,
e.g., the Mobility as a Service (MaaS) movement has to be for the benefit of the
people in need of safe and cheap transportation. In MaaS, for examples, children,
the physically handicapped, and the aged people are to be taken care of specifically.
Not only technical possibility intrinsic to automobiles but also socially friendly and
in accord with sustainable development (SD) is to be within the ultimate objectives.
Furthermore, installation of the battery charger station has not been catching up the
need to the increasing number of EV in many countries, which is another kind of
technical assignments. The problems that EV is confronting are still many, and among
them tires’ may not be the main. Still, from the viewpoint of reinforced rubber, the
decrease of tire weight and a few other existing assignments are to be investigated
more.
9.3.2 Future of Reinforced Rubbery Materials
In the arena of rubber materials, alternative NRs to the NR from Hevea trees are
highlighted [8, 9, 63, 74–84]. Those from guayule (Parthenium argentatum) and
rubber dandelion (Taraxacum kok-saghyz) had been studied for a long time, and
the interest in them survived late in the twentieth century. Now both are actively
investigated widely, and the cultivation of guayule plants is again established in the
USA and, that of rubber dandelion is planned in Europe and in the USA, too. The