When Mahindra Reva Electric Vehicles inaugurated its new plant in Bangalore last August, it harnessed solar energy to provide lighting and will use the sun’s energy to charge cars that roll out from the plant. Now, Maruti Suzuki is going solar too. The company is close to commissioning a one mega watt (MW) solar power plant at its Manesar facility. This facility rolls out some of its popular models – Swift and Dzire – besides the SX4 saloon and A-star hatchback.
According to M M Singh, chief operating officer, production, the installation of the solar power at Manesar will probably reach fruition in 2013-14. It is believed that solar power is an area where there is synergy between economics and environment. So far, the company has invested in solar-powered street lighting at both its Manesar and Gurgaon facilities. But the future is clearly solar as the company plans to tap it for its Gurgaon and upcoming Gujarat plant as well.
At present, the company’s second plant at Manesar, commissioned in 2011-12, runs entirely on LED lighting, the first car plant to do so in India, Maruti claims. An LED light uses 22 watts of electricity and costs Rs 1,500 versus a conventional tubelight that costs Rs 60 and uses 50 watts of power. Hence, in terms of economics, though the initial investment may be high, there are benefits in terms of long-term energy savings.
Meanwhile, both the Gurgaon and Manesar facilities have succeeded in reducing energy consumption per car by nearly 30 percent over the years. In terms of lightweighting, the focus is to reduce material usage by almost one gram per component through re-engineering and design modification efforts on existing vehicles. The carmaker has also expanded the use of plastics over steel as part of this endeavour. In addition, the company has launched a steam-driven system for power generation that uses steam from the waste heat recovered from existing gas turbines at Gurgaon. A team has been appointed to identify relevant equipment and machinery. The waste heat recovery system implemented at the Gurgaon plant for power generation will be implemented at Manesar shortly. Both sites currently run on captive powerplants that use natural gas, a clean fuel.
Maruti's growing CNG model range
On the product front, I V Rao, executive advisor engineering, says that the new Alto 800 Green rolled out in October 2012 is the latest addition to the company’s CNG portfolio. Maruti, in fact, was one of the pioneers in providing the CNG option in its vehicles. It developed the Intelligent Gas Port Injection (i-GPI) technology for CNG bi-fuel vehicles which emits less pollution and does not compromise on the vehicle’s power and performance.
Maruti has also developed functional prototypes of the hybrid SX4 and electric Eeco and these are under study. With the Centre announcing the National Mobility Mission for Hybrids and EVs, a clear plan in this regard is expected to shape up from the side of carmakers.
Driving energy management
The company is also kicking off energy management initiatives for its joint venture companies. Its energy experts have started auditing operations of joint venture partners to identify opportunities for energy conservation. Its service team has also undertaken projects to make service workshops more environment-friendly. Over 66 percent of its Tier 1 suppliers have also adopted ISO 14001 standards and others have been asked to follow suit in a time-bound manner.
Maruti is also working to make all its new models more lightweight, fuel efficient and eco-friendly. Its refreshed Swift and Dzire, for instance, are more fuel-efficient than earlier versions. It has also been focusing significantly on conserving every drop of water at its production units. It has cut usage per car by 61 percent at Gurgaon in the last decade, and by about 56 percent at Manesar over five years, according to its Sustainability Report 2011-12, besides achieving zero discharge of effluents.
Maruti also meets 41 percent of its total water requirements through recycling with nearly 95 percent of the waste water being recycled. Total water consumption in 2011-12 for both the Gurgaon and Manesar plants was 18,01,311 cubic metres.
The company recently registered a clean development mechanism project with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to enable it to earn 10,000 carbon credits annually, claiming to be the first Indian automobile company to do so. This initiative has been taken as Bharat Stage IV emission norms came into play in April 2010. These standards are expected to rise further as India migrates to Stage V and VI over the decade.