Audi’s plant in Brussels achieves ‘CO2-neutral site’ status, Audi e-tron on the right track

Audi Brussels has been awarded a "CO₂-neutral site" certificate by the Belgian testing company Vinçotte. It is the world's first certified CO₂-neutral high-volume production plant in the premium segment.

Audi Brussels covers all production processes and all other emissions generated at the plant either with renewable energies (approximately 95 percent) or compensates for them with environmental projects (approximately 5 percent). Audi pursues a holistic approach with regard to sustainable premium mobility. Right from the start of production, Audi Brussels will produce the series version of the Audi e-tron prototype with a CO₂-neutral impact on the environment. Peter Kössler, Member of the Board of Management for Production and Logistics at AUDI AG said, “At the same time, our first electric car is also the first car in our core competition that is completely climate-neutral in production. We avoid any waste.”

Audi claims that the Belgian site has three main pillars. The first pillar is changing over to green electricity. This was already done at the site in 2012. On a total area of 37,000 square metres, the roofs of the plant buildings also have the largest photovoltaic system in the region. In this way, the company saves around 17,000 tons of CO₂ per year, equivalent to the consumption of around 1,500 people. The second pillar is the supply of heat at the site using renewable energies, which also heats the offices. The plant covers this heat requirement with the certified usage of biogas. Audi Brussels prevents CO₂ emissions of up to 40,000 tons each year through renewable energies. Pillars one and two thus account for more than 95 percent of overall energy needs. Audi Brussels offsets further emissions that cannot currently be avoided through renewable energy sources by means of carbon credit projects (the third pillar). These include, for example, emissions caused by company’s cars.

Rüdiger Recknagel, Head of Environmental Protection at AUDI AG said, “We are also installing new technologies at all our plants to reduce water consumption, prevent air pollution and improve recycling.”