Volvo Establishes First Carbon-Neutral Engine Plant In Sweden

Volvo Cars’ engine factory in Skövde, Sweden, has become the company’s first climate-neutral manufacturing plant, having switched to renewable heating as of 1st January 2018.

Skövde is the first plant in Volvo Cars’ global manufacturing network to reach this status, which marks a significant milestone towards realising the company’s vision of going carbon-neutral across its global manufacturing operations by 2025.

Skövde also becomes one of only a few climate-neutral automotive plants in Europe.

A deal inked between Volvo cars and a local energy supplier ensures that all heating supplied to the Skövde plant is generated from waste incineration, biomass and recycled bio-fuels.

Skövde along with Volvo’s other European plants have all been supplied with electricity from renewable sources since 2008.

Javier Varela, Senior Vice President of Manufacturing and Logistics at Volvo Cars added, “Improving energy efficiency is our first priority and then, for the energy we need to use, we aim for supplies generated from renewable sources. The Skövde plant achievement is an important addition to our broader efforts in minimising our environmental footprint. We are pleased to be a leader within the automotive industry in the move towards climate-neutral manufacturing.”

In addition to Volvo’s plan to electrify all new Volvo cars launched from 2019, climate-neutral manufacturing operations will further reduce its overall carbon footprint, supporting global efforts to tackle climate change.

Volvo Cars also constantly looks other innovative measures to move towards its 2025 vision. For example, in 2016, the production plant in Ghent, Belgium, introduced a district heating system that reduced carbon emissions by 40 percent, saving 15,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.