Bridgestone's two plants in India have opted to use solar power. The Pune Plant in Chakan has currently installed 1 MW of Solar energy capacity and is in the process of setting up another 4 MW of capacity which will commence operations by September 2019. The Indore plant in Kheda, in Madhya Pradesh in Central India, has 1 MW solar energy capacity that is being enhanced by another 1 MW slated to be operational by the third quarter of 2019. While using solar energy is good for the environment, it also reflects positively in monetary terms. 1MW of solar power results in savings of nearly 59 million rupees worth of electricity expenses in 20 years.
Parag Satpute, Managing Director, Bridgestone India, said "Usage of clean energy is key to Bridgestone's sustainability goals. In sync with this, our adoption of solar energy reduces the dependence on conventional forms of energy leading to a reduction in the carbon footprint. 1 MW of solar capacity saves an estimated 1000 tonnes of CO2 emission per year. By this estimate the 7MW of solar capacity will save an estimated 150,000 tons of CO2 emission over two decades. For us in India, this is a step towards the company's global long term commitment of achieving a 50% reduction of CO2 emissions by 2050 and beyond."
The Bridgestone Group has set a target of a 35 per cent reduction in CO2 emissions per net sales from operations and products' after-use by 2020.
