“The time has come for businesses to invest in eco-technology. This is not only necessary to make profits, but also to be competitive in the emerging scenario where these technologies are on par with any other technology like IT, etc.”
That was how Dr H C Sharatchandra, chairman, KSPCB summed up the need of the hour. "Go green. Invest now. Move to the mainstream. These are three important things to be kept in mind. We have to invest in eco-technologies. Innovation is the way out of the crisis where we see the ecosystem degraded,” he added.
He was addressing the audience at the 'Annual Prestige Environmental Seminar' organized by the Maini Group and Loughborough University, UK.
It is necessary for the private sector to make renewable energy its core objective. Corporate social responsibility should go beyond mere lip service and adopting of an island or park to transforming the same through involving the community and creating awareness, said another expert and policy planner, A Ravindra, deputy chairman, State Planning Board.
P K Mohan Kumar, general manager, The Taj West End, felt that it was necessary to have some compulsory environment norms for the hospitality sector. He spoke of the Tata group's initiatives in taking "purely voluntary steps" which it has undertaken despite the expenses incurred. "But a competitor in the field can get away without doing anything. We need policies for the corporate sector and it will be useful if the policy makers take note of this need. Especially as this sector is poised to double in the coming years and can be among the most energy intensive," he said. ( An average room in a five-star hotel hotel sees 110 units of electricity per occupancy per day!)
The Maini group touched upon its environment friendly policies and initiatives.
"Of the 950 vehicles we sold in UK every single one of them was sold online thus doing away with the need for paper," noted Chetan Maini, while talking of the many other aspects. Thirty electric cars on the road, he said, would mean 60 tonnes of carbon di-oxide saved.
Earlier, Prof Dennis Loveday and Rob H Thring, from Loughborough University spoke about energy technologies for 21st century in the area of buildings and transportation.
Advanced insulation systems, fuel cells and a combination of active and passive solar designs were noted as some emerging areas in this area.
