Decarbonisation of manufacturing operations: a case study in automotive manufacturing

In response to the climate crisis, companies are increasingly committed to lowering their emissions. Previous studies have investigated climate mitigation strategies in carbon-intensive industries. However, emissions from less carbon-intensive sectors must also be addressed to reach net-zero goals....

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Andreas Serino Olander, Lucas Albuquerque Wolf, Lena Moestam, Mélanie Despeisse
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2025-12-01
Series:Production and Manufacturing Research: An Open Access Journal
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Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/21693277.2025.2514613
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Summary:In response to the climate crisis, companies are increasingly committed to lowering their emissions. Previous studies have investigated climate mitigation strategies in carbon-intensive industries. However, emissions from less carbon-intensive sectors must also be addressed to reach net-zero goals. This study focuses on manufacturing operations and proposes a three-step approach to initiate industrial decarbonisation activities. Technological solutions across six strategies were investigated: fuel shift, electrification, carbon capture, process efficiency, technology substitution, and circularity. An in-depth case study at a multinational automotive manufacturing company was conducted with 16 semi-structured interviews to qualitatively evaluate technological solutions, highlighting implementation challenges from the case company’s perspective. While there is no universal set of priorities for decarbonisation, the proposed three-step approach can help companies organise their decarbonisation activities more effectively. Finally, we suggest further work to tackle current and emerging challenges potentially hindering decarbonisation efforts in less carbon-intensive sectors.
ISSN:2169-3277