According to an article from Gizmag.com, science researchers at the Oregon State University are proposing to make tires out of wood. The article states: "They aren’t suggesting constructing the tires solely from wood, but replacing silica with microcrystalline cellulose derived from plant fiber as reinforcing filler in the manufacture of rubber tires. The result could be a tire that would cost less, perform better and save on fuel and energy." For the study, the researchers replaced 12 percent of the silica that is in a traditional tire with microcrystalline cellulose. The microcrystalline cellulose is a well-organized structure.  When they did this they found that the tires performed comparably to traditional tires in testing. It provided the same amount of traction as a traditional tire and was actually better in preventing a rollover accident. That is some exciting technology. However, the researchers at Oregon State University have yet to find out how the tires will perform after use and in the long term. The hope is that fuel efficiency would improve in warmer weather and reduce the number of tire blowouts as well. The research about the tires with wood appears here. The other great tid bit of info, is that these tires would actually cost less to manufacture than traditional ones!