Continental tire plant enables CO2 neutral production

Since this year, Continental can produce tires CO2-neutrally at its tire plant in Lousado, Portugal. The tire manufacturer has thus taken an important step towards its goal of completely CO2-neutral production. This is possible thanks to the generation of steam using a boiler, that operates entirely on electricity. Continental uses both self-generated solar power and renewable electricity from the power grid for its steam generation. Before, natural gas was used as sole energy source for steam generation at the Lousado tire plant.

In the tire industry, a large proportion of the energy consumed is used to generate steam, which is needed to heat the tires, a process known as vulcanization. The thermal energy turns the raw rubber into flexible and elastic rubber. With an annual production capacity of 18 million tires, the plant in Lousado is a mega plant. By 2040 at the latest, Continental wants to switch all tire plants completely to CO2-neutral production processes. 

“In Lousado, we are demonstrating that even very large tire plants can achieve CO2-neutral production. To do so, the availability of renewable energy sources at competitive prices is crucial,” explained Dr. Bernhard Trilken, Head of Manufacturing and Logistics at Continental Tires. He added: “We are preparing all our plants so that they can use as much renewable energy as possible. The commissioning of our electric steam boiler in Lousado is the start of an exciting learning curve.”

The new electric steam boiler converts solar and other green electricity into steam with almost no losses. Water is pumped from the bottom of the boiler to the top, where it is sprayed onto electrodes. Electric current flows through the water jets and creates heat inside the water until it evaporates to steam.

The ambition of Continental Tires by 2030 is to reduce its energy consumption by 20 percent versus 2018. Continental is aiming to achieve climate-neutral production by 2040 at the latest. Since the end of 2020, the electricity that the company purchases for all locations worldwide has already been sourced from renewable energy sources and is climate neutral. For this purpose, guarantees of origin are obtained in accordance with the criteria of the global RE100 Initiative.