Volvo Car Group and paper-products group Stora Enso have joined forces to reduce carbon emissions at the automotive manufacturer’s plant in Belgium by more than 40%.

Stora Enso’s plant in Langer-brugge is near Volvo’s manufacturing facility in Ghent; this means that it can install an underground pipeline to supply hot water that will be used to bring Volvo’s building — particularly the paint booths — up to temperature.

Construction of the pipeline will begin in 2015 and the first hot water will be delivered in the autumn of 2016. The project has been made possible with financial assistance from the Flemish government, which provided an ‘ecology subsidy’ of 2 million euros.