About the Project
In large cities across Asia, a million Auto-rickshaws serve as one of the most important means of transportation every day. At the same time, these Auto-rickshaws cause considerable air pollution and a large amount of CO2 emission. The Auto-rickshaw drivers are part of the economic poorer groups of society and earn on average $3 to $4 a day.

The idea is that in five years a large number of Auto-rickshaw drivers will have made the change-over. The project goals are therefore:

- To reduce the CO2 emission of Auto-Rickshaws by at least 40%

- To improve the economic situation, and with that the social position, of the Auto-rickshaw drivers and their families by lower fuel costs and more efficient motors
- To improve the air quality in large Asian cities

The Hybrid Auto-rickshaw Project contributes to a better world in different ways and is expected to generate a lot of publicity.

Making it happen!
The Hybrid Auto Rickshaw project is the brainchild of Stef van Dongen, founder of Enviu - innovators in sustainability. Enviu is a young international organisation for and by enterprising young people who share their network, expertise, time and money to implement sustainable development in a contemporary and businesslike manner. We are always looking for wow ideas, like the Hybrid Auto Rickshaw project, that we can turn into reality!

It is our mission to inspire and involve enterprising young people in working together on the development of profitable solutions to environmental and social problems.

Enviu’s best known project is the ‘Sustainable Dance Club’ which was set up in a similar manner as the Hybrid Auto Rickshaw project. having developed the energy generating dance floor, it is now a self-sufficient company leading the way in making dance clubs around the world sustainable. The organisation strives for maximal impact rather than maximal profit. The Sustainable Dance Club has received both national and international media attention on the radio, television and in written publications. For more information go to www.sustainabledanceclub.com

Research
In order to get accurate and up to date information about the Auto Rickshaw sector, a base line study has been made by Enviu in cooperation with local Indian experts in Bangalore and Hyderabad (July 2007).

The outcomes of this research revealed that it is possible to increase the incomes of rickshaw drivers up to at least 35%! We also see possibilities to offer the collective CO2 reduction of the auto rickshaws to the formal or informal carbon compensation market. Enviu sees great possibilities in developing a project that focuses on hybridizing Auto Rickshaws for the following reasons:

• Millions of people are financially dependent on the Auto Rickshaws for their livelihood and belong to poorer economic groups, so the social economic impact of the project will be huge.
• The engines of the auto rickshaws are generally homogeneous and only one upgrade system will be suitable to hybridize many rickshaws.
• If we can upgrade a million rickshaws, the impact of reducing 40-60% of CO2 emissions per rickshaw will be enormous.