Earth 100 Biofuels launches green commercial fleet of cars in Gurgaon

New Delhi, February 5, 2013: Earth 100 Biofuels, a Gurgaon-based supply chain solutions provider to companies looking to reduce carbon footprint by using greener fuels, has launched its first fleet of 100 percent bio-fuel cars, comprising 10 Mahindra Scorpios, in Gurgaon.

Earth 100 claims to be the first company in the world to provide a commercial fleet running on 100 percent bio-diesel. The firm is currently supported by Jindal Power as an investor, while Mahindra & Mahindra plays a key role as technology partner.

Speaking on the occasion, Megha Rathee, COO, Earth-100, said: "We have had successful pilot projects in Bangalore and Mumbai too and are confident that the cars introduced in the first phase in Gurgaon will be very well accepted. The Jindal Group has been extremely supportive and requests for more such eco-friendly cars from their offices in Delhi, Sonepat and Gurgaon have already come in. 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 Bangalore soon."

Earth 100 Biofuels provides fully integrated green solutions which involves modified cars, green fuel, dispensing solution, servicing and maintenance, performance tracking and quality testing.

Need for green mobility

India is one of the largest petroleum-consuming countries worldwide and imported about 186.7 million tonnes in FY-2012. About 70 percent of India's energy generation capacity is from fossil fuels, with coal accounting for 40 percent of the total energy consumption followed by crude oil and natural gas at 24 percent and 6 percent respectively. India is largely dependent on fossil fuel imports to meet its energy demands - by 2030, India's dependence on energy imports is expected to exceed 53 percent of the country's total energy consumption. In 2009-10, the country imported 159.26 million tonnes of crude oil which amounts to 80 percent of its domestic crude oil consumption and 31 percent of the country's total imports are oil imports.

The green fuel

Jatropha is one of the most widely used plants for bio-diesel production in India, and it has been identified as a best possible source, largely because the plant is grown across the country and requires little maintenance. It has a high yield of 40 percent oil, which makes it very cost-effective.

However, use of bio-diesel in India remains limited, despite large-scale availability of jatropha. Out of the 6,00,000 square kilometres of waste land that is available in India, over 300,000 square kilometres are suitable for jatropha cultivation.