Another Volvo Plant to go CO2-Free
by Jacob Gordon, Nashville, TN on 03. 9.06
Making news last year by turning one of its Swedish truck factories into the world's first CO2-free automotive plant, Volvo has done it again. Volvo’s second assembly plant, this time in Ghent, Belgium, will be entirely powered with renewables by next year. Heat and electricity for the assembly plant will come entirely from an on-site biofuel facility and three wind-turbines. The move is not isolated, but falls into a set of broader efforts to reduce and eliminate petroleum use. Sweden has set a goal of severing its fossil fuel use altogether by 2020. Volvo has also been experimenting with petroleum-free electric vehicles. An electric car built in a carbon-neutral factory would be an exciting first. :: Green Car Congress
I guess I'm the only one who feels like pointing out the irony of a CO2-free truck factory?
Tommy, doesn't "the movement" have to start somewhere? Diehard greens with their self-righteous attitudes.
The key is compromise that would facilitate technological innovation while remaining profitable. Fuel cells aren't here yet, and the world still needs trucks. Perhaps this could be a model for many other types of manufacturing? I'm with McDonough on this one...we can't eliminate autos overnight, but we can start changing how they are made.
ek, he has a point. Some of the first cars in Seattle were electric in the late 1800s, and yet today we're "experimenting" with them. I "experiment" with my bicycle, and I've *moved* to a place where I don't need a car, ever. Rather than waiting for huge companies to pretend to have something right around the corner, as they have for decades, I prefer to take action myself. I suspect that there's always an excuse for others not to.
No, I think its a great idea. Every step is fantastic. I just found it very amusing to build diesel trucks with wind power. Its like storing industrial waste in recycled drums.