Resource wisdom has been borrowed from companies and operators in the region
"Aänekoski is in a tickling spot"
Preliminary results of the resource-wise Äänekoski - Low-emission road transport project have already been received. The city of Äänekoski promotes low-emission road traffic in the region by speeding up the development of the distribution infrastructure of alternative operating forces for the use of heavy traffic. The project is part of the active climate and environmental work of the city of Äänekoski. We take care of our environment so that we can leave it better for future generations.
The low-emission road transport project promotes the development of renewable fuels and electric charging stations in Äänekoski, especially from the perspective of heavy traffic. Äänekoski's location is great logistically and with the new distribution stations, passers-by would be able to stop here.
So far, the project has conducted interviews with 16 significant companies and operators in the region, and preliminary results on the demand and supply of alternative operating forces have already been compiled. A lot of valuable and useful information for the future has been obtained from the interviews. They were reviewed on May 7.5.2024, XNUMX in an interactive workshop to which operators and the city's people had been invited.
The goal of the project is to match demand and supply for low-emission fuels by strengthening cooperation between stakeholders. It is important that the real needs of the users are heard so that the development goes in the desired direction. The city itself cannot be an actor in the distribution business, but the role of the city is to enable distribution activities, e.g. with zoning, licensing and suitable plots.
The city is currently running a tender for electric car charging stations for operators. The goal is to have more charging points for electric cars available to residents in the different urban areas of Äänekoski already this year.
Gas is today, electricity is the future
At the workshop, there was a lot of discussion about the fact that there is a chicken-and-egg phenomenon at this stage of development: there are no distribution stations until there is more equipment in traffic, and equipment cannot be acquired until there is a sufficient distribution network. However, Äänekoski is logistically and otherwise in an excellent location in central Finland and near Jyväskylä, when thinking about the development of heavy traffic distribution networks.
- Äänekoski is in a tickling spot near Jyväskylä and Hirvaskangas in particular is an interesting area, Aino Mensonen Rambollita stated.
The biggest change in motive power will occur in the next few years in the use of gas, which the city can contribute to, e.g. by allowing a suitable area. The area must be next to services and easily accessible by a truck with a full trailer along the 4th road. In the interviews with operators, it was emphasized that there must definitely be services in connection with refueling and charging points for heavy traffic, so that drivers can take their statutory break at the same time. Therefore, it is not worth setting up cold stations. The junction must also be easy for a truck with a full trailer and the journey from the highway must be short.
In the interviews, the areas of Hirvaskanka and Kotakenna came up as possible stopping places.
The advantage of gas as a power source is that it has already gained good experience and the threshold for operators to switch to it is low. The gas is suitable for heavy transport and the distribution stations are public. However, there are not enough gas distribution stations and they must be developed.
Valio's logistics manager who participated in the workshop Peter Laine says that Valio currently has six gas trucks in Finland and little by little there will be more. Valio's strategic goal is to be carbon neutral in terms of logistics in 2035.
- We have now gone ahead of gas and electricity will only come in the future. This is our joint issue and we need more infrastructure so that more low-emission vehicles can be acquired. We want to cooperate with different operators ourselves, says Laine.
Local transport in the city of Äänekoski will start running in June with the Linkki service, which uses gas-powered buses.
The use of electricity will also increase in future distribution traffic, although many are skeptical about it. The development of electricity as a driving force is also possible for longer distances, in which case a charging station for both short-term and long-term charging with services is also needed along the 4th road. The city is expected to contribute so that the electric cables have been laid in the area, even though the charging infrastructure is developing in a market-oriented manner
Diesel works with heavy traffic and is a superior motive power, but its development would be desirable and low emissions require the use of renewable forms.
Hydrogen is not yet a liquid fuel for land transport.
Those who participated in the workshop commented that the project is interesting and brings together different parties. Cooperation with companies, operators and also other cities and municipalities is important.
- We are all together on the brink of a new and important issue.
Residents included
Although the ongoing project focuses on heavy traffic, private drivers will also benefit from the diversification of the distribution network. In the spring, small online surveys were conducted for residents and city employees.
171 people responded to the resident survey. The respondents' cars are mostly driven by gasoline (45%) and diesel (41%). Plug-in hybrids are already used by almost 10% of respondents. The share of electricity and gas in the driving force is still small and none of the respondents use biodiesel.
Almost 70% of the respondents would choose a vehicle that would use low-emission driving forces, if they were available in Äänekoski (electricity, electric hybrid, biodiesel, gas). The most popular choices of low-emission driving forces would be gas and a plug-in electric hybrid, both with a good share of 30%. A good 20% of respondents would choose electricity and a good 10% would choose biodiesel. The residents who responded to the survey want low-emission power distribution stations, which provide gas (33%), biodiesel (28%) and electricity (25%).
The project will last until September 15.9.2024, XNUMX and will be implemented by the city together with Ramboll Finland Oy.
For more information:
Environmental manager
Hanna Ahonen
0400 893 683
hanna.ahonen@aanekoski.fi
News published, modified 16.8.2024 at 09:37
