Volvo Cars has announced its Torslanda site in Sweden is its first car manufacturing plant to become fully climate-neutral.

It has stated the plant now contributes to no net increase in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions due to the renewable electricity and heating being used.

Torslanda is Volvo’s oldest plant, being powered by renewable electricity since 2008 and is now heated by biogas and industrial waste heat.

The plant made annual energy savings of 7,000 MWh in 2020, enough to power more than 450 Swedish family homes and aims to increase this to 20,000 MWh per year by 2023.

Volvo has also set a goal to reduce the energy usage per car it produces by 30% by 2025.

Javier Varela, Head of Industrial Operations, commented: “Establishing Torslanda as our first climate-neutral car plant is a significant milestone.

“We are committed to having a climate-neutral manufacturing network by 2025 and this achievement is a sign of our determination as we consistently work to reduce our impact on the environment.”