MAN Truck & Bus Opens CO2-Neutral Plant
MAN Truck & Bus, a wholly-owned subsidiary of MAN Truck & Bus AG in Germany, has opened it’s first CO2-neutral commercial vehicle plant.
The production site in Pinetown, South Africa, has implemented the company’s climate strategy by using only renewable energies. A huge photovoltaic system has been installed with solar panels on 6,300 square meters of the production hall roofs.
This system can generate up to 810,000 kWh per year and supplies enough energy on site to even leave a surplus that is fed into the local power grid. According to the company, this measure alone reduces MAN’s CO2 emissions in production by 860 tons per year. Specialists thoroughly revamped the hall roofs before installing the photovoltaic system. Skylights were built in wherever feasible to use as much daylight as possible. In addition, modern insulation makes sure that air conditioning consumes as little energy as possible. Rainwater tanks were set up to have an environmentally friendly vehicle wash on site.
Wastewater is recycled, according to the company.
“The CO2-neutral plant in Pinetown is a great success for implementing our Climate Strategy and proves that we mean business when it comes to climate protection. This project is the benchmark for sustainable commercial vehicles production in Africa,” said Georg Pachta-Reyhofen, chief executive officer of MAN SE.
MAN has set itself the target of cutting CO2 emissions by 25% by 2020 compared with 2008. This target is now within reach. According to the company, up to the end of 2014 MAN already saved 19%, which equals around 105,000 tons in CO2.
MAN Truck & Bus AG in Germany is a leading manufacturer of medium, heavy and extra-heavy trucks, as well as commuter buses and luxury coaches. The product has been represented in South Africa since the early 1960’s, initially through agents Meyer and Hiller.
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