Carbon footprint in 3D
The Cube is a transparent 8.6-meter box that contains the total amount of carbon emissions currently created in the production of one CAKE Kalk OR electric off-road motorcycle – 637 cubic meters, equal to 1,186 KG CO2e.
As part of the Cleanest Dirt Bike Ever collaboration between Vattenfall and CAKE, we have laid out the roadmap of creating the world's cleanest motorbike yet, ultimately shrinking the size of this cube to as close to zero as possible by 2025, part by part, centimeter by centimeter.
“Vattenfall works to achieve fossil free living within one generation and is dedicated to finding partnerships that inspire and break barriers. This is one such project, where our main contribution is the broad knowledge in fossil free solutions and electrification of industries we have acquired over decades from our own as well as other industries.”
- Annika Ramsköld, Head of Corporate Sustainability at Vattenfall
Why are we doing a cube?
Everything that is produced results in some kind of carbon footprint. Even though the product may or may not create any emissions when in use.
“If every product would create a cube of emissions several times bigger than its own size, we would simply not fit all emissions in the atmosphere. Which is the exact problem of global warming”
- Isabella Phersson, Head of Sustainability at CAKE
Our aim with The Cube, is that by building a three-dimensional visualization of the carbon footprint, we can help build a broader understanding of the urgent global issue of emissions, in several ways. Firstly by raising awareness among consumers, making it easier to grasp the size of carbon footprints. Secondly by inspiring more players in our industry to reveal and reduce the hidden carbon footprint of production, and together lead the transition towards a cleaner vehicle industry.
Carbon-box-thinking
What if we could compare carbon boxes in daily life, like comparing two different vehicles or two different tv:s before investing in one. Below we have visualized the production footprint of different everyday products and we encourage more brands to reveal the production footprint of their products to help consumers make more conscious decisions.
What can I do to contribute?
Each and everyone of us can impact the amount of emissions we put into the atmosphere. Understanding that fossil free is not just about how things are used, but also about how things are produced, is a great start. We can all start asking our favorite brands about the carbon footprint of their products - encouraging them to address the issue of emissions and enabling each individual to reduce their climate impact by choosing cleaner products.
“The cube is a monument of transparency, it is in our face and we need to do something about it”
- Stefan Ytterborn, CEO CAKE
Didn't the glass cube create emissions by being created?
Yes, everything we produce will have a footprint. The emissions from the cube production were minimized by using 3D rendering to portray the glass sides of the cube, instead of building the complete cube in reality. Only the steel structure of the cube was physically produced and assembled at location (still a 8.6 meter challenge) and has been saved for future use. We do not encourage any brand to build a real life glass cube, adding unnecessary emissions to the atmosphere.