Continental achieves carbon neutral production in Portugal

LOUSADO, Portugal—Net zero isn't just a goal for Continental A.G. The tire maker says it's a reality.

Just look at Lousado.

Continental says that plant in Portugal can produce tires with carbon neutrality thanks to the installation of an electric steam boiler that runs on renewable energy, namely solar.

And with a rated capacity of 18 million tires annually, the plant is far from small, which proves that sustainable strides don't have to be small either, Continental said.

"In Lousado, we are demonstrating that even very large tire plants can achieve CO2-neutral production," Bernhard Trilken, Head of Manufacturing and Logistics at Continental Tires, said in a statement. " … We are preparing all our plants so that they can use as much renewable energy as possible. The commissioning of our electric steam boiler in Lousado is the start of an exciting learning curve."

By 2040, Continental hopes to transition all of its plants to carbon-neutral production.

The new electric steam boiler system replaces a natural gas-powered system, at least in part. Continental kept the older system in place, allowing for the flexibility to change between systems as needed.

"Our site in Lousado benefits from the fact that the sun shines frequently," Pedro Carreira, head of the Continental Tires plant in Lousado, said in a news release. " … All Continental tire plants are working intensively on making production more and more sustainable and energy efficient. We each have to cope with a very wide variety of conditions, such as weather conditions or the availability of renewable energy sources."

The Lousado plant embodies Continental's vision for greater sustainability both in production and in products. The facility manufactures the UltraContact NXT, a 65-percent sustainable materials tire—the company's most sustainable offering to date.

In addition to passenger tires, the plant also produces ag and off-road products.

Moreover, Continental notes that its carbon neutral manufacturing stride is just one more in a sustainable industry journey that it says it's leading. Earlier this year, the company emphasized it uses 22-percent less energy per metric ton of tires produced than the industry average.

Last year, Continental implemented 160 energy-saving projects with what it defines as great success. The company said it reduced its annual energy requirements by about 150 gigawatt hours as a result.

Ultimately, by 2030, the company looks to reduced its overall energy consumption by 20 percent compared to the 2018 baseline.