FatHopes Energy’s Vinesh Sinha dropped out of college to start his company in Malaysia after watching an episode of the famous British automotive show on TV. He’s now turning waste oil into a sustainable source of energy
Born to parents who love and participate in motorsport racing, Vinesh Sinha became acquainted with cars early in his life. But the turning point came when they bought him his first car: a 20-year-old diesel-engined Mitsubishi Pajero.
He watched an episode of Top Gear, where he saw one of the TV show’s host Jeremy Clarkson put cooking oil into a car and drive it. He decided to try the same with his car—and it worked. With some tweaks and adjustments made to his car and the oil, he found that the vehicle ran relatively well. And that sowed the seed for what would later become FatHopes Energy.
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Today, FatHopes Energy is a multi-million dollar company that specialises in converting waste oils from the food industry into environmentally friendly biofuel at seven facilities across Malaysia. It also developed a smart tank technology that restaurants can pour their used cooking oil into. Once full, it transmits data to the company to indicate that it is ready for collection.
In the latest episode of our Crazy Smart Asia podcast, Sinha discusses dropping out of college to start his business, the values of sustainability and why he’s less idealistic now. Here are a few excerpts from the conversation.
Click the audio player below to listen to the full episode or subscribe via Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
On the inverse relationship between carbon efficiency and economic development
“You cannot be a tree hugger saying, ‘Hey, you need to pay more because it’s more carbon efficient. I don’t think that’s fair because nations are developed on being carbon inefficient. The biggest economies in the world are where they are today because they have no more forests. That’s the reality. But the rest of the world has to keep our forests.”
On effecting consumer change
“Customers change when you bring both [of this] together; when you bring commercially competitive offerings that also are environmentally efficient.”
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