Environmental care extends beyond the tailpipe: Volvo commits to climate neutral operations

Environmental care extends far beyond tailpipe emissions for today's automotive manufacturers. The recent motor shows have been dominated by news of efforts to electrify vehicles, but what about the plants that build them? There has been growing interest and investment in cleaning up the footprint of production facilities. The approaches are many and varied, from solar panels on the roofs to wind turbines in the field.

Volvo Cars made headlines last year with the announcement that it would electrify all new models from 2019 but it is following that up with a move towards climate-neutral production operations. By 2025, the OEM wants all of the manufacturing plants to attain climate-neutral status. The first plant to claim this title is the engine factory in Skövde, Sweden, which switched to renewable heating as of 1 January 2018. Stuart Templar, Director of Sustainability at Volvo Cars, believes this isn't just good for the environment, it's also good for business.