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The Dublin professional car racer, Emmet O'Brien, will get behind the wheel of a red Ferrari in Navarra in Spain in a few weeks' time -- to compete in the car racing championship, the European Blancpain Endurance Series.
O'Brien, who has competed in a number of European championships, is no stranger to car racing -- yet, when he is not on the race track, he is in Monkstown, Co Dublin running his eco-friendly car cleaning company, No-H2O.
O'Brien set up No-H2O in 2007, just before Ireland officially sank into a recession.
As well as offering an eco-friendly car valeting service, No-H2O distributes a waterless car cleaning solution -- which is also called No-H2O.
"With my racing background, I always had an interest in car care -- as I liked to clean my cars well," said O'Brien. "However, before I set up the company, I had found that there was really nowhere in Ireland that I could leave my car and get it cleaned well."
Knowing how much water is used for car washes, O'Brien tracked down an eco-friendly car cleaning solution for his business. He now distributes the product, No-H2O, to owners of coaches, buses, trucks, some retailers and small garages and An Post.
"With a 500ml bottle of No-H2O, you can clean a car up to four times," said O'Brien. "Otherwise, the average car wash uses between 80 and 100 litres of water. A 53-seater coach would typically need 500 litres of water for one wash -- but with No-H20, you'd only use 500ml of solution."
Although 2008 and 2009 were tough, O'Brien says sales have increased by between 25 and 30 per cent a year.
