TransEco Development Program
Finland has been a pioneer in making use of bioenergy and developing low-emission traffic fuels. The Ministry of Employment and the Economy is now giving further support to the development of new biofuels through the TransEco program, coordinated by the VTT Technical Research Centre.
VTT’s TransEco programme focuses on the comprehensive examination and development of solutions aimed at reducing the energy consumption and emissions of road traffic as well as operating models suitable for Finland. (Photo: Crestock)
Neste Oil and St1 are working together on a fuel project as part of the TransEco development program coordinated by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. The project will focus on developing cost-efficient solutions tailored to Finnish conditions that will enable the 20% biocomponent target set for car fuel in 2020 as part of national climate goals to be achieved. The majority of the funding for the fuel project will come from the Ministry of Employment and the Economy, with the remainder accounted for by VTT, Neste Oil, and St1.
Focus on cars
The joint project between VTT, Neste Oil, and St1 will concentrate on car fuels, as a number of other projects are already working on biofuel research related to trucks and other heavy vehicles. St1 will concentrate on optimizing high-blend bioethanol designed to replace fossil gasoline for Finnish conditions and minimizing the environmental impact of its use; while Neste Oil will focus on developing other biocomponents suitable for blending with conventional gasoline. The participation of both companies is expected to generate significant added value, as sharing findings has been highlighted as a key priority for all those involved.
Cutting traffic-related energy usage and emissions
Current targets call for a significant reduction in the amount of energy used by vehicles and the volume of greenhouse gases they emit into the atmosphere, together with an increase in the use of renewables, by 2020. VTT's five-year TransEco research program has been designed to help reduce overall energy usage on the roads and increase the use of renewable energy in this area, and will focus both on developing new technology and commercializing the results of R&D work.
Renewable energy in this respect covers both biofuels and green energy. VTT will investigate the use of electric and hybrid vehicles in a range of operating environments and road conditions in other TransEco projects; while Metropolia University of Applied Sciences will research new types of electrical power trains for vehicles and machinery.
Click here for the entire press release.
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland is a globally networked multitechnological contract research organization. Read more about it's programs related to energy efficiency.
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