Cleaner heavy-duty transport in Turku

CIVITAS initiative brings cleaner fuel to Turku

CIVITAS Initiative supports projects in the field of sustainable transport and mobility services. It has been in operation since 2002 and up to now has financed projects in more than 50 cities. It supports innovation and research through its programs ECCENTRIC, PORTIS and DESTINATIONS that work towards efficiency and competitiveness among others.

The initiative has 10 thematic areas one of which, Clean Fuels & Vehicles, is the goal of the Turku project.

Turku becoming carbon-neutral

The City of Turku in Finland has a very ambitious goal – to become carbon-neutral by 2029. This will be done through the promotion of electric public transport, biofuels and the phase-out of coal for electricity production by 2025.

Freight transport in Finland is one of the reasons for air pollution because of the vast distances that must be travelled. The country thus wants to introduce vehicles that run on liquefied natural gas (LNG) and/or liquefied biogas in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Under CIVITAS ECCENTRIC, Finland supported the opening of the first filling station in Finland (in Turku) that offers LNG and biogas.

Under the current project, there are two main partners that support the work of the municipality.

The first one, Gasum Ltd., has as its main task to promote the use of biogas for freight vehicles. This will be done through investments the procurement of appropriate vehicles that run on either LNG or biogas. Currently, two vehicles are being tested.

The second partner, FREJA Transport and Logistics have the task of helping with the expansion of the filling stations network. As mentioned above, there is only one such station that offers LNG and biogas and it is located in Turku. The aim is to develop a network throughout the country along different routes for freight transport in Finland.

Scandinavian countries always present good practices in the field of sustainability. The project in Turku is yet another example of successful cooperation between public authorities and private companies towards achieving the common goal of sustainable transport and mobility.