Goodyear Floats Idea For Moss-Lined Tire That Absorbs Carbon Dioxide

Goodyear tires is trying to break into the green game with an innovative idea for a tire that would clean the air as it rolled down the highway. It is, as of now, just an idea, but it's definitely outside the box. 

The Goodyear Oxygene is a tire lined with moss. Real, live, growing moss. It was revealed at the Geneva Motor Show, USA Today reports, as part of a demo on futuristic technologies from various motor companies. Chris Delaney, president of Goodyear's Europe, Middle East and Africa markets, gave a statement patting Goodyear on the back for thinking far outside the circle.

"Like the concept designs Goodyear has presented at Geneva in the past, Oxygene is meant to challenge our thinking and help drive the debate around smart, safe and sustainable future mobility," said Delaney. "By contributing in this way to cleaner air generation, the tire could help enhance quality of life and health for city-dwellers."

The Oxygene would theoretically work by absorbing CO2 as it passed carbon dioxide-admitting cars, which the moss would turn into oxygen through photosynthesis.

The moss would grow in a rubber structure 3D-printed form recycled rubber, and absorb water from the street through specifically modeled tire thread to keep the moss fresh and green. You could also spray it down with your hose on a dry weekend. 

Not only would the moss produce oxygen, it would generate power that the tire has the ability to harness and use to activate LED light systems with different colors that signal the car's movements. Not only are they imagining a new kind of tire, they're imagining a whole new language of driving. It's a huge leap for a car company to take, but a legitimately innovative idea. Not many people have thought to grow plants inside a tire that's still moving.