The automaker wants to negate the environmental impact of its factories over the next 12 years
The company also plans to be completely carbon neutral by 2050
Mazda has already begun to use renewable energy and other solutions to lower its manufacturing emissions
Mazda announced yesterday that it aims to make its manufacturing facilities around the world carbon neutral by 2035, which is significantly sooner than most other automakers.
Achieving carbon neutrality means that the company’s activities don’t produce carbon emissions, or that these emissions are being compensated by carbon credits and programs to reduce pollution.
Mazda developed a strategy to reduce its carbon emissions which is based on three pillars: energy conservation, renewable energies and carbon-neutral fuels.
This strategy is already in use at the automaker’s flagship factory in Hiroshima, Japan and it will be rolled out to the other factories operated by Mazda around the world.
According to its research, the most polluting aspect of Mazda’s factories is the production of electricity. In order to limit the pollution associated with electricity generation, the company uses energy conservation techniques that reduce its demand for electricity from the grid.
To help this process, the automaker is also working on manufacturing technologies that will require less energy, such as a paint formula that will cure at lower temperatures than the current product.
In addition, renewable energies are used to replace polluting sources and their use is expected to increase over the decade in order to completely replace fossil fuels by 2035.
In order to eliminate the carbon emissions generated by the factory’s other activities, Mazda is also working with partners on carbon-neutral fuels that will be used for on-site transportation needs.
If everything works correctly, the automaker not only expects its manufacturing process to be carbon neutral, it also expects it to require about a quarter less energy than it currently does.
After this goal is completed, Mazda will work to compensate for the other emissions it generates in order to make its entire supply chain carbon neutral by 2050, which aligns with the targets announced by many other automakers.
