MAN Truck & Bus
22 Apr 2021
Manufacturing trucks and buses requires a lot of energy and MAN’s carbon footprint was therefore relatively large in the past. Yet consistent restructuring and modernisation of our energy supply, the use of renewable energy sources and energy efficiency measures have enabled us to succeed in continuously reducing it. MAN is striving for climate-neutral production by 2030.
Using the energy of the sun: MAN's plant in Pinetown, South Africa, is completely climate-neutral.
Climate protection can only succeed given collective effort. The MAN production network has collaborated over recent years to reduce CO2 emissions at all sites. A wide variety of measures were implemented that have contributed to reducing our carbon emissions by over 30 percent. These include the use of cogeneration plants for energy generation, using groundwater for cooling purposes, converting our engine testing to diesel-free procedures and installing a solar system in Pinetown that provides sufficient electricity to run our entire production there. “Protecting the environment is an important issue for own purposes. We are striving to achieve climate-neutral production by 2030”, MAN environmental officer Dr Heike Sarstedt reports. “Our customers also expect us to reduce the CO2 emissions arising from our production. So our climate strategy and certified management system for reducing our carbon footprint also enable us to score points in tenders.” That’s why the topic of sustainability is firmly anchored in our production strategy – alongside customer orientation, cost efficiency and digitalisation.
Some milestones on the journey to climate neutrality in production have already been reached. MAN has been continuously striving to reduce its inherent CO2 emissions since 2008. The carbon dioxide emissions from our production plants have already fallen by more than a quarter. While production at MAN gave rise to around 374,600 tons of CO2 in 2008, by 2018 this was only 265,710 tons. Annual emissions therefore reduced by 108,809 tons – equivalent to the carbon footprint of a small town. The next major milestone is to fall below the level of 144,000 tons of CO2 emissions in 2025. MAN is introducing a wide range of measures to ensure that this is successful: energy supply in our production plants will now gradually be converted to electricity and heat from renewable energy sources. And that works best on a collective basis. Good collaboration with our energy provider in Nuremberg, for instance, is enabling us to convert our plant there to district heating. That saves a further 20,000 tons of CO2. We also aim to arrange with VW Kraftwerk GmbH that the electricity generated in the Salzgitter wind farm, and currently fed directly into the mains network, is in future also used for direct supply to MAN. Together with all our employees, we can detect and eliminate energy waste and come up with great ideas on how to improve energy efficiency in our production facilities. That makes a significant contribution to climate protection and also reduces expenditure.
Text: Felix Enzian
Photos: MAN
This website uses third-party content. In order to use the website and its full range of offers, please consent to the collection and processing of your personal data by the relevant third-party providers. To do so, please click on the red “Accept” button.
Further information can be found on our Data Protection & Cookies page.
This website uses third-party content. In order to use the website and its full range of offers, please consent to the collection and processing of your personal data by the relevant third-party providers. To do so, please click on the red “Accept” button.
Further information can be found on our Data Protection & Cookies page.