Continental goes CO2 neutral with Lousado tyre production

A significant milestone has been reached in Continental’s journey towards sustainable manufacturing with the achievement of CO2-neutral tyre production at its 18 million tyres per annum capacity Lousado plant in Portugal. This advancement aligns with a broader Continental objective of attaining completely CO2-neutral production across all its facilities.

The transition to CO2-neutral production at the Lousado plant is primarily facilitated by a new boiler system that operates exclusively on electricity. Steam generation, essential for the vulcanisation process, accounts for a substantial portion of energy consumption, and Continental now sources the energy required for this from either self-generated solar power and renewable electricity supplied by the grid. Previously, the plant relied solely on natural gas for its steam generation needs.

An exciting learning curve

“In Lousado, we are demonstrating that even very large tyre plants can achieve CO2-neutral production. To do so, the availability of renewable energy sources at competitive prices is crucial,” comments Dr Bernhard Trilken, head of Manufacturing and Logistics at Continental Tires. “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.”

The new electric steam boiler converts solar and other green electricity into steam with almost no loss. Water is pumped from the bottom of the boiler to the top, where it is sprayed onto electrodes. Electric current flows through the water jets and creates heat inside the water until it evaporates to steam.

Ensuring stability with a mixture of sources

A conventional gas boiler will continue to be available in addition to the new electric steam boiler, allowing Continental to “react flexibly to the fluctuating availability of renewable energies and other environmental factors.” Maintaining a mixture of sources will be all the more important when rolling out technologies such as solar in other locations – Continental notes that whereas the sun in Lousado shines for an average of seven hours a day, an average of four hours a day in winter, in Berlin the sun shines for less than two hours a day in winter.

“Our site in Lousado benefits from the fact that the sun shines frequently. This enables us to achieve fully electrified and CO2-neutral tyre production process whenever possible,” says Pedro Carreira, head of the Continental Tires plant in Lousado, Portugal. “All Continental tyre 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.”

Industry-leading position

Following years of dedicated efforts, Continental Tires believes it has reached an “industry-leading position” when comparing its energy consumption per metric tonne of tyres produced with the industry average, as reported by the Tire Industry Project of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. In 2023 alone, Continental’s tyre division managed to reduce its annual energy requirements by approximately 150 gigawatt hours. This significant reduction was achieved through the implementation of 160 energy-saving projects, including measures such as thermal insulation. To put this into perspective, the energy saved is roughly equivalent to the average annual electricity supply of 12,500 single-family homes.

Since the end of 2020, all electricity purchased by the company for its global locations has been sourced from renewable energy sources and is climate neutral. This has been verified through guarantees of origin, in line with the criteria of the global RE100 Initiative. Looking ahead, Continental Tires has set ambitious goals for the future. By 2030, the company aims to reduce its energy consumption by 20 percent compared to 2018 levels. Furthermore, Continental is striving to achieve climate-neutral production by no later than 2040.