Most automakers will tell you that the endgame isn't zero emissions, but carbon neutrality. And that's not just for operating cars, but for the entire lifecycle of vehicles, including manufacturing.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that the auto industry is responsible for more than a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions. Light-duty cars and trucks—what the average American drives daily—are responsible for more than half of that.
Almost every automaker has promised to only sell electric vehicles (EVs) after a certain date, whether it be 2030 or a decade or more away. At the same time, many have promised to also go carbon neutral.
To become carbon neutral, a company can offset every gram of carbon dioxide it sends to the atmosphere by capturing another to match, by purchasing carbon offsets or by not emitting the carbon in the first place.
Carbon emissions are responsible for about 81 percent of overall greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The others include methane (10 percent), nitrous oxide (7 percent) and fluorinated gases (3 percent).
Ford opened its first official carbon-neutral manufacturing plant this summer in Cologne, Germany. The reborn plant—it was originally founded in 1930—received a $2 billion makeover to become the Ford Cologne Electric Vehicle Center, capable of producing a quarter million EVs annually.
The 125-hectare location has a new production line, battery assembly and state-of-the-art tooling and automation. The new Ford Explorer EV will be produced there, supporting the company's commitment to be carbon neutral across its entire European footprint by 2035.
Ford says that all electricity and natural gas required to operate the facility is carbon neutral, including the heat to warm the building, which will be provided by a local company that will offset the emissions from the assembly plant on behalf of Ford. Once that local operator has eliminated its emissions, Ford Cologne's EV Center will be independently certified as carbon neutral. The certification is audited regularly to make sure a plant stays carbon neutral.
The Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker is taking steps toward carbon-neutral manufacturing in the U.S. as well. The company's new BlueOval City campus in Tennessee will be Ford's first carbon-neutral vehicle manufacturing and battery campus as the company aims to power all global plants with carbon-free electricity by 2035.
"The Cologne EV Center signals the start of a new era for Ford in Europe," said Martin Sander, general manager of Ford Model E Europe. "We are once again redefining auto manufacturing, implementing advanced technologies to build fully connected, software-defined vehicles that meet our customers' demand for zero emission mobility."
Ford isn't the only automaker pushing toward carbon neutrality. Lamborghini, Volvo and others are lowering their carbon footprint one step at a time, all with aspirations to become completely carbon neutral within the first half of this century.
Volvo just marked its Torslanda, Sweden, plant as climate neutral, which goes beyond carbon to include all GHGs. Torslanda is the company's second such facility to clear that milestone. Volvo's Skövde engine plant, also in Sweden, became climate neutral in 2018.
The Torslanda plant has been powered by climate-neutral electricity since 2008. Now it also has climate-neutral heating. Volvo says that half of the plant's heating comes from biogas, while the other half is sourced from district heating via industrial waste heat.
Nissan has a more ambitious goal. The automaker's Nissan Next plan lays out the ambition to become carbon neutral throughout the entire vehicle lifecycle by 2050. That means carbon-neutral material extraction, manufacturing, vehicle use and vehicle recycling or reuse at end-of-life. That doesn't just include the Nissan brand, either. The company is examining the practices of its suppliers from their procurement of raw materials to their transportation options, as well.
At Lamborghini's headquarters in Sant'Agata Bolognese, Italy, large green fields sustain the company's plant operations, which are now powered by 50 percent biomethane gas using two power plants that produce heat, electricity and cooling. It has reduced its carbon footprint by 80 percent. The location now uses mostly water-based paint in its paint shop, and the vehicle holding areas are covered by solar panels.
"Reaching climate neutrality across our full value chain by 2040 is important, but we also need to take action right now. We have therefore set an ambitious target to reduce our climate footprint by 40 percent per average car by 2025, compared to [the] 2018 baseline," Jonas Otterheim, head of climate action, global sustainability, Volvo Cars, told Newsweek.
"To do this, we need to reduce emissions from our complete supply chain including what they emit when they produce components for us. We need to reduce emissions from total operation including our manufacturing footprint. And we need to reduce emissions from the use of our cars. And they need to be charged with clean electricity, and we are actively engaged in supporting the transition to renewable energy production globally."
About the writer
Jake Lingeman is the Managing Editor for the Autos team at Newsweek. He has previously worked for Autoweek, The Detroit ... Read more
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