Suppose you are using two units of electricity for something, Vani Vijay begins to say, sounding like a patient teacher. “And then we bring energy efficient technologies that would reduce this usage to a single unit…that would reduce the emission of carbon by half already,” she says. Vani is explaining carbon accounting, a concept her year-old company Vyduthi Energy Services specialises in. Anoop Babu, her colleague in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for many years, founded the company in August 2020, and she joined as co-founder. But they decided to set it up in Kerala, where they are both from. “We wanted to bring the kind of quality we saw in the UAE, especially in companies led by Indians, back to our place – Kerala,” Vani says.
Vyduthi, already earning a few recognitions including one from the United Nations, has now been selected for the US Pavilion of Expo 2020, happening in Dubai. World Expos happening once every five years are global gatherings of countries, dedicated to finding innovative solutions to pressing problems. It is six months long with a lot of brainstorming and discussions happening between individuals, sectors and countries, for finding lasting solutions. The 2020 edition, originally planned for October 2020, got pushed by a year because of COVID-19 pandemic. The themes this year are mobility, opportunity and sustainability. Vydyuthi is one of the two Indian companies to be selected for the US Pavilion.
Sustainability is the area Vydyuthi specialises in. “In February this year, we were the carbon consultants for the international conference on gender equality conducted by the Gender Park (coming under the Department of Woman and Child Development) in Kozhikode, in association with UN Women. They were particular about making the event carbon neutral, and it is possibly the first event in Kerala to happen that way. It is through this event that we found our way to the Expo,” Vani says.
The UN recognition had come even before that – in December last year. The UN’s Women Empowerment Principles recognised Vydyuthi for employing women in key leadership positions. It includes Vani as both co-founder and technology expert, Indira Babu – mother of Anoop – as managing director, and Sudha Kumari, as head of Energy Efficiency Department.
Vani and Anoop had both worked in the energy sector in the UAE, in many projects like the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park. Vani had even before been working in the field of renewable energy, as an electrical engineer at the Central Power Research Institute in Bengaluru. “I was working in energy efficiency and renewable energy department, that’s how I entered into the sector. Then I took a PhD in the same sector before migrating to the UAE.”
Last year she moved back to Kerala for the setting up of Vydyuthi. They mainly work in the area of carbon accounting, as she explained, by finding ways to reduce the emission. “When you look into reasons for carbon emission into the atmosphere, you will find that almost 70% of it is contributed by the energy sector. So our work is mainly in this area. Apart from carbon accounting, we also work in renewable energy technology – helping reduce emission by using solar or wind energy in place of thermal. Basically using sustainable materials.”
Apart from the Gender Park event of February, Vydyuthi also worked with the state government in its e-mobility project. They are responsible for the charging stations put up by the KSEB (Kerala State Electricity Board) for the e-vehicles to power up.