PRETORIA, South Africa—BMW’s assembly plant here is getting some of its power from cow manure. The company has agreed to a 10-year deal to buy as much as 4.4 megawatts of electricity from a biogas power station about 80 kilometers from the assembly plant. Surrounded by land where approximately 30,000 cattle graze, the power station runs off gas emitted by a fetid mixture of dung and organic waste.

Rising energy costs are forcing manufacturers to seek innovative ways to optimize energy consumption.

RUSSELLS POINT, OH—Honda’s transmission assembly plant here will get approximately 10 percent of its electricity from a pair of on-site wind turbines.

DETROIT—GM is investing $24 million in electrical generation equipment that will allow the company to use more landfill gas at its assembly plants in Fort Wayne, IN, and Orion, MI. The new equipment will generate more than 14 megawatts of electricity from landfill gas, saving a combined $10 million in energy costs each year at the facilities.

GOEPPINGEN, Germany—PV-Kraftwerker has developed a mobile robot that automatically assembles outdoor photovoltaic installations.

AGUASCALIENTES, Mexico—Nissan’s automotive assembly plant here is powered by natural gas from a nearby landfill.