Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and electricity power a fleet of large commercial trucks operated by the conglomerate Essar Group’s green mobility enterprise, which also provides clean fuel logistics solutions.
Decarbonizing Heavy-Duty Vehicles
According to a senior corporate executive, Essar Green Mobility anticipates generating $1 billion (about Rs 8,850 crore) in revenue over the next three years as it grows its green trucking division as part of its plan to decarbonize heavy-duty long-haul vehicles.
“At Essar, we are concentrating on decarbonizing heavy-duty long-haul vehicles in order to solve a crucial component of road transportation. B C Tripathi, a board member of Essar Green Mobility, told PTI in an interview that these vehicles are responsible for around 40–45% of the nation’s crude oil usage, which is converted into diesel and utilized mostly for the transportation of steel, cement, iron ore, and many other items.
Decarbonizing this sector is the goal for the greater good of business and the general population.
Scaling LNG Truck Platform
In response to a question about the revenue guideline, Tripathi said that the objective is to construct a 10,000-truck platform over the next three years, which has the potential to grow into a USD 1 billion enterprise. This will, however, rely on the stage and rate of implementation.
Additionally, this endeavor will help India reach its government-set net-zero goal. Failure to address this section will restrict the total effect of decarbonizing transportation.
“There are two approaches we are using in our efforts to solve it. The first is to concentrate on replacing diesel with LNG, which is the immediate low-hanging fruit. We are establishing a platform for LNG-powered vehicles, which now has about 700 trucks in use.
Electric Trucks Reduce Emissions
The second item is switching to electric trucks for short-distance transportation. Soon, there will be an official launch event. Delivering end-to-end solutions that assist major companies in decarbonizing their logistics operations is our aim,” he said.
The whole ecosystem is in place, including Blue Energy Motors‘ production of the trucks, Greenline‘s ownership and operation of them, and Ultra Gas & Energy‘s provision of fueling stations.
As a result, they will have an approximately 40% smaller carbon footprint associated with logistics, practically nil SOx (sulphur) emissions, and almost 50% less NOx (nitrogen) emissions. It will have a significant effect there.
“We have already spent over USD 140 million to build up the dispensing stations, own the vehicles, and set up the production facilities. The establishment of our biofuel facility is the second stage. Although specific engineering and budgeting are still under progress, once defined, the project should be far more cost-effective,” he said.