To make the production of tires even more environmentally friendly in the future, Continental is investing in energy-efficient, economical and low-emission production methods. Our ambition is to achieve carbon neutral production for all tires by 2040.
To this end, we have set ourselves ambitious interim targets:
Our ambition by 2040: 100 percent carbon-neutral production of all our tires. Energy in the tire industry is used, for example, to generate steam, which is required for tire vulcanization.
That’s why we are generating more and more renewable energy ourselves, for example by expanding our photovoltaic systems in production plants worldwide. At the same time, we are driving a wide range of projects to make our operations even more energy efficient.
In 2024, we reduced our energy consumption by a total of around 50 gigawatt hours with over 80 energy-saving projects worldwide. This is roughly equivalent to the annual energy consumption of more than 4,000 single-family homes in Germany. Combined with our energy-saving projects the year before, we achieved a total reduction in energy consumption of around 200 gigawatt hours within two years.
Continentals tire plants are making a decisive contribution to fulfilling our climate protection strategy, which aims to operate in a carbon neutral manner across the entire value chain.
Since late 2020, the electricity that we purchase for our tire production facilities worldwide has been carbon-neutral and derived from renewable energies. To prove this, we secure energy attribute certificates in accordance with the criteria of the RE100 initiative. To generate green electricity on site, we also operate solar installations at our tire factories.
In Lousado, we are showing that even very large tire plants can produce CO2-neutrally.
Since this year, we have been able to produce tires in a CO2-neutral manner at our tire plant in Lousado, Portugal. This is made possible by the generation of steam with the help of a boiler that is operated purely electrically. We use both self-generated solar power and renewable electricity from the power grid to generate steam.
"In Lousado, we are showing that even very large tire plants can produce CO2-neutrally. The availability of renewable energy sources at competitive prices is crucial for this," explained Dr. Bernhard Trilken, Head of Production and Logistics at Continental Tires. He added: "We are preparing our plants to be able to use as much renewable energy as possible. The commissioning of our electric steam boiler in Lousado is the beginning of an exciting learning curve."
The electric boiler can generate steam from green electricity instead of gas
