Designed Environments: Volvo
 Volvo Trucks’ plant in Tuve will be the world’s first CO2-free automotive plant by using wind power and biofuel as sources for all the plant’s electricity and heat. Combined with efforts to achieve energy savings of up to 20%, Volvo, in cooperation with Göteborg Energy is currently building five large wind power plants and a new biofuel plant adjacent to the Tuve plant. The five wind power plants alone will increase the amount of wind-power generated electricity in Sweden by 4%. When the plant does not fully utilize the produced electricity and heat, the surplus energy will be distributed to other customers via the district heating and electricity network. The wind power plants and the new biofuel plant are scheduled for completion during 2007. Said Volvo’s Chief Executive Officer Leif Johansson, "The Greenhouse Effect is a reality and the automotive industry has a specific responsibility for coping with emissions of carbon dioxide. Reducing carbon dioxide emissions is no easy task, but the issue is so important that I believe we must be prepared to try out a variety of different alternatives, if we really want to succeed. Our investment in the Tuve plant is one such effort. This is not solely an admirable environmental effort. We also expect that it will eventually be profitable on a purely commercial basis." |
Congratulations to all the nominees:
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| Team led by Matthew Coates and Tim Meldrum; Cradle to Cradle Home Design & Construction Competition Winners |
Wal-Mart; Green Superstore in McKinney, Texas |
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< a nod to past achievers: IKEA, toxic flame-retardant free |
a wink > to future favorites: Global Green & Brad Pitt, sustainable Gulf Coast design |
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