Renewable energy sources are all the rage right now, and for Mercedes-Benz South Africa, it’s no different. The manufacturing plant for Mercedes-Benz in East London just took a big step in reducing its carbon footprint. After a successful trial of Photovoltaic (PV) technology, the German car makers are more confident than ever in achieving its goal of reducing CO₂ emissions entirely.
Photovoltaic tech is essentially what we know as solar panels, and the energy we receive from the sun. The East London manufacturing plant began testing the viability of solar energy in order to cut down on its carbon footprint. The tests began in January, with the installation of 360-kilowatt peak (kWp) solar panels. The panels were installed on top of the new body-shop building to see how useful they could be. And since then, Mercedes-Benz South Africa (MBSA) has been extremely happy with the output achieved. This likely means good news for the rest of the plan.
Ambition 2039
The testing of PV tech was just phase one in MBSA’s long term aims. The project, known as Ambition 2039, will hopefully see MBSA fully CO₂ free by 2039. But that’s far away. There are smaller goals in mind too, such as halving the company’s carbon footprint by the end of the decade. There’s certainly a ways to go before any of this can happen, but the introduction of solar is a good first step.
So, what comes next for Mercedes? Well, the key elements in Ambition2039 focus on; electrifying the vehicle fleet, charging up with renewable energy, upgrading battery tech and using more renewable materials during the process.
There’s also the case of expanding the successful solar installation. Since the trial was successful, MBSA can focus on putting up more solar panels to offset the energy levels even more. There’s also plans to begin installing wind power sites across the plant to really help get off the grid. And lastly, MBSA plan to organize more power purchase agreements for the next few years.
By 2030, MBSA believe that 70% of all its energy will be coming from renewable sources.
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Andreas Brand, CEO of Mercedes-South Africa and Executive Director of Manufacturing said:
“As Mercedes-Benz our goal is to make the world’s most desirable cars. The launch of the PV pilot project attests to our commitment to climate protection and the sustainable manufacturing of our products. We are proud of our successful pilot project here in East London and look forward to actively making a significant contribution to Sustainable Production/ CO₂ neutral manufacturing.”
It’s great to see such a big manufacturing plant take on this sort of project. It helps everyone, and not just Mercedes-Benz themselves. It sets an example for other manufacturers looking to go a similar route, and proves that it can be done.
