Earth 100, Gurgaon firm launches eco-friendly bio-diesel cars

Earth 100, a Gurgaon-based a firm that claims to help companies reduce their carbon footprint by using greener fuel, has launched its first fleet of eco-friendly "100 per cent bio-diesel cars" in Gurgaon.

Jindal Power is a major investor in the firm, while Mahindra plays a crucial role as a technology partner. Earth 100 claims to provide fully integrated green solutions, which involves modified cars, green fuel, dispensing solution, servicing and maintenance, performance tracking and quality testing.

Megha Rathee, COO of Earth-100, said, "We have had successful pilot projects in Bengaluru and Mumbai and are confident that the cars introduced in the first phase in Gurgaon will be successful. Acceptability and demand for such green vehicles for has also gone up and clients are willing to pay a premium for green services now. We plan to start operations in Mumbai and Bengaluru and create new benchmarks in the carbon footprint reduction space."

With skyrocketing energy demands, and India being one of the largest petroleum consuming countries (importing about 186.7 million tonnes in 2012), alternative sources of energy have become a necessity.

Officials said about 70 per cent of India's energy generation capacity is from fossil fuels, with coal accounting for 40 per cent of India's total energy consumption followed by crude oil and natural gas at 24 per cent and 6 per cent respectively.

Officials said Jatropha is one of the most widely used plants for bio-diesel production in India, and it has been identified as the best possible source, largely because the plant is grown across the country and cultivation is inexpensive.

Jatropha tree has a high yield of 40 per cent oil, which makes it very cost-effective.

Use of bio-diesel in India remains limited, despite large scale availability of Jatropha. Over 3 lakh sq km of land in India is suitable for Jatropha cultivation.

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