Gothenburg, Sweden – Volvo’s Torslanda car plant is now completely climate-neutral.
Volvo Cars considers a manufacturing site fully climate-neutral when it 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.
To achieve this, the plant has utilized ‘living roof environments’, captured solar energy and now uses biogas for heat, among other measures.
It took the plant about four years to get to this point, and comes as most big brands are boasting at least some form of green manufacturing initiatives.
In the future Torslanda plans to make even more energy efficient upgrades to their plant, such as upgrades to their current heating and lighting systems. Last year, Volvo’s oldest plant boasted an annualized energy savings of almost 7,000 MWh. They estimated this is equal to the annual energy usage of over 450 Swedish family homes.
“Establishing Torslanda as our first climate-neutral car plant is a significant milestone,” said Javier Varela, head of industrial operations and quality at Volvo Cars.
While the plant in Torslanda is Volvo’s first vehicle plant to achieve climate neutrality, their own Skovde engine factory was actually the first facility in the Volvo network to be climate-neutral. It’s all part of efforts by the company to make its entire global manufacturing network climate neutral by 2025.
