The environmental impact of automobiles in India is measured by its tailpipe emissions. Some auto companies in Europe like the Volkswagen have adopted the Life-cycle Assessment (LCA) to measure how much of damage they can minimize. LCA is typically a cradle-to-grave approach – from raw material mining to the end-of-life stage.
Tata Motor’s efforts to bring in the LCA concept for its Nano cars is the first in India. The $42-billion Tata Motors, India’s largest automobile maker, is one of the few companies infusing life-cycle thinking within and across its vendors. The Nano CNG car is said to be greener than a conventional three-wheeler fitted with CNG.
