CO2 control by means of the increased penetration of diesel passenger cars in Finland

Abstract

One efficient way to control the CO 2 emissions from the transport sector is the replacement of gasoline passenger cars by Diesel ones, which emit less CO 2 . This can be more effective in Finland, where the Diesel penetration is only 13.6%, which is very low compared to the other member countries of the European Union. The benefit in CO 2 emitted from the new passenger cars is studied in the case of an increased Diesel penetration in this country, after several scenarios using the current and estimated future passenger car registrations and the fuel consumption. The results show that, in the case of new passenger cars, a CO 2 benefit of more than 2.6% can be achieved, if a Diesel penetration higher than 30% occurs in the case of the current fleet. If the penetration reaches 50%, this benefit reaches 5.9%. Future total CO 2 emissions from transport sector will increase significantly and can be partially controlled by the introduction of Diesel passenger cars or the replacement of heavy passenger cars by lighter ones.