Bangalore:  Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) was recently honoured with the prestigious “Golden Peacock Award for Energy Efficiency’ for the year 2019. The Award was presented by Mr. R V Deshpande (Honorable Minister for Revenue & Skill Development – Govt of Karnataka) to TKM Mangement during IOD India’s “21^st World Congress on ENVIRONMENT MANAGEMENT” held in Bengaluru.

TKM has won this recognition for its initiatives promoting ‘Energy Efficiency’ improvement. The company was awarded for its commitment towards creation of climate resilient society in ‘harmony with nature’ guided by Toyota’s Global Environment Challenge 2050. The Toyota Environment Challenge 2050, which is developed in line with the Sustainable Development Goals, aims to have new vehicle zero CO2 emissions; zero CO2 emissions throughout vehicle lifecycle, plants with zero CO2; challenge of minimizing and optimizing water usage; establishing a recycling based society and system and establishing a future society in harmony with nature. It is aligned with United Nations 17 Universal Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs] and has partnered with various international organizations to support the global warming countermeasures to achieve the ‘below 2 degree’ temperature goal.

With key focus on energy efficiency, Toyota has been swiftly moving from non-renewable to renewable sources of energy across its business operations, as electricity consumption being one of the major sources of energy in manufacturing sector. TKM has been able to prove its eco commitment with continuous improvements in remarkable green energy sourcing trends year-on-year. Toyota Kirloskar Motor’s vision, philosophy and guidelines are true reflections of its commitment for a sustainable future. Its focused on achieving harmony between its manufacturing activities and the environment based on the concept of ‘a plant that optimally utilizes natural resources while operating in harmony with the natural environment, thus working towards one of the national issues of energy security.

India’s energy demand outpaced global demand growth in 2018 according to the International Energy Agency. Due to higher energy consumption, the global energy-related CO2 emissions increased to 33.1 gigatonnes (Gt) of CO2 in 2018. This energy demand is expected to see a spike in the future and the associated emissions as well. For sustainable development, there is an urgent need to adopt energy efficiency measures with renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, etc. [replacing fossil fuels]

Expressing his delight on receiving the award, Senior Vice President and Environment Director Toyota Kirloskar Motor – Mr. Raju B Ketkale said, “We are delighted that our consistent efforts to reduce Energy Consumption and achieve Energy Efficiency in our business operations have been acknowledged.

We have been consistently working towards reducing our dependency on non-renewable energy sources. In October 2018, we achieved 100% renewable power source for our energy requirements. TKM successfully sourced 88% of electricity from renewable source of energy for its operations in Bidadi facility in FY2018-19, this has avoided the emissions of 68,121 tons tons of CO2. Through such significant goals, TKM is effectively contributing towards emission reduction by significantly. Also increasing renewable energy usage allows to achieve cost effectiveness, providing economic advantage. TKM sources clean energy and adopts smart manufacturing systems towards Toyota’s ultimate global mission of ‘Zero Carbon Emission through various initiatives like adoption of reverse refrigeration system, centralized control of chillers, adoption of smart ACs, TKM has been reducing significant quantity of Co2 releases over the years. From fuel efficient vehicle to developing ever better eco-technologies and approaches, TKM focuses on environmentally sustainable solutions in every business operation and every vehicle that is manufactured.

This achievement is a testament of our efforts and inspires us to continue to improve our processes.”

The company has been vesting enormous efforts to reduce its energy consumptions through controlling and reducing daily energy consumption in each of the operational processes instilling stringent & systematic monitoring to track energy usages. In FY 2018-19, 76% of the Water consumed in the Manufacturing Facility was recycled water and only 7% of fresh water was consumed.

As pioneered makers of eco-cars leading the way for a better tomorrow, Toyota recently launched The All New Camry Hybrid Electric Vehicle. Toyota’s strong hybrid technology not only aims at creating harmony with man, nature and machine, but also positioned as the future of eco-mobility. The Camry Hybrid or self-charging electric vehicle is a strong hybrid and the only hybrid which is locally manufactured at Toyota Kirloskar Motor’s second plant located at Bidadi [Bangalore, Karnataka] in India.

In order to ensure energy efficiency, Toyota follows Daily Monitoring and implements regular Kaizen (continuous improvement) in energy consumption that incorporates KPI visualization, Daily review by CO2 team along with Shop floor PIC and Shop Management, Weekly update to Shop Floor Managers, Monthly update to Division Heads & Top management. There is effective auditing system in place to ensure abnormalities are highlighted & rectified at the source.

Toyota has installed in-house solar power plants at roof tops and ground in its facility at Bidadi, which has a combined capacity of 8.4 MW of electricity. TKM has explored various possible avenues to increase its renewable energy share including in-house solar parks, outside solar parks, open access sourcing etc. The renewable energy sourcing has increased from 15% in FY 15-16 to 65% in FY 17-18 & achieved 88% in FY18-19. Now the company is looking forward to achieve 100% by September 2019.