Volvo Cars reaches milestone with first climate-neutral car plant

In April, Volvo Cars announced its plans to become a circular company by 2040 which should allow the firm to reduce carbon emissions by 2.5 million tons. Today, the company has made a step that takes it closer to reaching that goal.

The Swedish carmaker announced that its Torslanda site is its first car manufacturing plant to reach fully climate-neutral status. This makes Torslanda the second plant in Volvo’s overall manufacturing network to reach climate-neutral status, after the Skövde engine plant in Sweden in 2018.

According to Volvo Cars, manufacturing sites are counted as climate-neutral “when they registers no net increase in the emission of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere as a result of the electricity and heating used by the plant.”

The Torslanda plant is the brand’s oldest site and is powered by climate-neutral electricity since 2008. Half of the plant’s heating comes from biogas, while the other half is predominantly sourced from district heating through industrial waste heat says Volvo Cars.

“Establishing Torslanda as our first climate-neutral car plant is a significant milestone. We are committed to having a climate-neutral manufacturing network by 2025 and this achievement is a sign of our determination as we consistently work to reduce our impact on the environment,” said Volvo Cars Industrial Operations Head Javier Varela.

In addition, the Torslanda plant constantly reduces the amount of energy it uses. Last year, the plant saved almost 7,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) of energy — equal to the annual energy consumption of over 450 Swedish family homes.

Volvo Cars plans to make further efficiency upgrades to its Torslanda site in the coming years, specifically when it comes to the lighting and heating systems of the facility. The automaker says that it should result in additional annual energy savings of around 20,000 MWh by 2023.

To achieve a climate-neutral means of manufacturing its vehicles, Volvo Cars have reached out to its partners in the local government and in the business sector to access climate-neutral electricity and heating. Volvo Cars also has plans to develop its own renewable electricity generation capacity on-site.

Volvo Cars aim to see its ambitious climate plan come full circle as the company looks to embrace the circular economy.

Photos from Volvo

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