Goodyear Chemical, Akron, OH, and the U.S. Department of Energy's Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM, will jointly explore new and more energy efficient processes that could dramatically reduce U.S. petrochemical industry dependence on foreign oil.

Goodyear Chemical, Akron, OH, and the U.S. Department of Energy's Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM, will jointly explore new and more energy efficient processes that could dramatically reduce U.S. petrochemical industry dependence on foreign oil. Under an agreement signed last month, Goodyear Chemical and Sandia researchers will share expertise to analyze chemical process technologies that may reduce energy consumption, waste generation and environmental emissions. Processes at Goodyear's Beaumont, TX solution polymer plant, which began full-scale operations last month, will be targeted by the research. The plant uses petrochemicals to produce synthetic rubber and specialty polymers for tires and engineered products.