Audi 2012 Annual Report Download - page 181

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Emissions reduction and resource efficiency
Reducing energy consumption and related emissions is a big priority of our Company’s environ-
mental activities. We pursue an integrated approach that considers not just CO2 emissions gen-
erated by a vehicle’s operation, but also raw materials extraction, the production of component
parts and their assembly, the energy flow in the production facilities, the operating phase and
recycling. We have, for example, set ourselves the goal of reducing our specific location-based
and company-related CO2 emissions by 25 percent by 2018 against the base year of 2010. By
2020 we also aim to cut carbon dioxide emissions from the energy supply at the Ingolstadt and
Neckarsulm locations by 40 percent compared with the specific figure for 2010. Audi has the
long-term vision of an entirely CO2-neutral automotive manufacturing process. Starting with the
Ingolstadt site, the concept is to be rolled out gradually across other sites. In an effort to rise to
this challenge, we systematically adopt energy-saving measures whenever we plan facilities,
buildings and logistics processes, while at the same time optimizing processes on an ongoing
basis. Eco-electricity has been in use at the Ingolstadt site since January 2012. It helps to avoid
up to 290,000 metric tons of CO2 per year. The electricity generated from renewable sources is
supplied on demand mainly by Austrian and German hydroelectric power stations. The aim is
likewise to improve the environmentally relevant key ratios for energy, freshwater, disposed
waste and organic solvents (VOC) by 25 percent Group-wide between 2010 and 2018.
Along with logistics, the production and supply facilities in particular are important target areas
for lasting efficiency improvements. For example, when the engine test benches at Neckarsulm
are running they are connected to generators that then supply power to the plant network. The
use of ultra-lightweight tools in body manufacturing, made mainly from carbon fiber-reinforced
polymer (CFRP), helps to save as much as 40 percent in electricity compared with a conventional
plant. Innovative joining techniques in body manufacturing – such as spot welding, laser welding
and bonding techniques – also help to cut consumption of operating materials and energy. In
addition, a modern trigeneration plant at the Ingolstadt site as well as heat recovery systems
and the use of district heating have long proved very successful for the Audi Group.
The Lamborghini brand, too, has long been systematically identifying ways of reducing energy
consumption. In July 2012 it completed the new Design Center for the development of proto-
types and pre-production models. It is equipped with state-of-the-art technology and was the
first building of its kind in Italy to be awarded an “A” energy rating (annual energy consump-
tion ≤ 8 kWh per cubic meter).
DEVELOPMENT IN OVERALL ENERGY CONSUMPTION, VEHICLE AND ENGINE PRODUCTION BY THE AUDI GROUP
1) Ingolstadt, Neckarsulm, Brussels, Győr and Sant’Agata Bolognese plants; excluding CKD production
2) 2012 figures provisional
3) Overall energy consumption for 2010 retrospectively restated following a change to the recording method
Vehicle production 1)
(thousand units)
Engine production
(thousand units)
1,008
1,884
2,509
Total energy consumption2)
(in GWh)
201220112010 3) 2009
967
1,917
2,607
878
1,648
2,527
750
1,384
2,157