Setting the green standard

Audi Brussels has become the world's first certified CO2-neutral high-volume production plant in the premium segment. Awarded the certification of ‘CO2-neutral site’ by Belgian testing company Vinçotte, the Brussels site covers all production processes and all other emissions generated at the plant either by renewable energies (approximately 95 percent) or compensates for them with environmental projects (approximately five percent).

The certification is particularly significant given that Audi Brussels will start production of Audi’s first all-electric series-produced model this year. – and right from the start of production, the Brussels plant will produce the series version of the Audi e-tron prototype with a CO2-neutral impact on the environment. 

“As the first plant in the Audi Group purely for electric cars, sustainable and environmentally friendly production is particularly important to us,” said Patrick Danau, Managing Director of Audi Brussels (pictured). “We see this as an obligation to society that pays off for all sides.”
“We are working hard to make all our factories in the Group even more sustainable. We intend to gradually supply our plants with green electricity. And last year, we were the first company in Germany to make all domestic rail transport climate-neutral,” said Peter Kössler, Member of the Board of Management for Production and Logistics at AUDI AG.

The Belgian site changed over to green electricity in 2012, while the 37,000 square metres of roof space house the largest photovoltaic system in the region, saving the company around 17,000 tons of CO2 per year, equivalent to the consumption of around 1500 people. 

The plant also covers its heat requirement with certificates for biogas, preventing CO2 emissions of up to 40,000 tons each year through renewable energies. 

Audi Brussels offsets further emissions that cannot currently be avoided (such as company cars) through renewable energy sources by means of carbon credit projects. 

“In 2014, we were the first premium manufacturer to measure our CO2 footprint and have it certified. Since then, we have been working steadily to reduce it further,” said Rüdiger Recknagel, Head of Environmental Protection at AUDI AG. “We are also installing new technologies at all our plants to reduce water consumption, prevent air pollution and improve recycling.”