Finland hopes to build world’s first carbon-neutral green highway

Filed under: Biodiesel, EV/Plug-in, Green Daily

While it’s easy for us to suggest that the car-buying public should adopt cleaner, alternative-fuel vehicles, the fact that a supporting infrastructure for many of these new technologies does not yet exist makes widespread adoption uncertain. Finland hopes to change the infrastructure-free trend by building out a carbon-neutral green highway that will feature charging stations for electric vehicles (EVs) and biofuel pumps along an 81-miles stretch of road spanning from the city of Turku to Vaalimaa near Finland’s Russian border.

The proposed green highway could be completed by 2016 at an estimated cost of 700 million euros ($890 million U.S. at the current exchange rate). Loviisa city official, Aki Marjasvaara, believes that a portion of the costs will be covered by large companies such as Fortum, Neste Oil and Ensto. The green highway’s necessary electricity will come from renewable resources and officials are even discussing the possibility of “smart” lighting that would only activate when vehicles are present. Marjasvaara remarked on the projects significance, stating:

The aim is to create the model for an ecological highway that could be used even on an international level. No other such project exists. This would set an example to the world.

City officials will release a detailed report next March and, if approved, construction on the green highway would begin next summer.

[Source: AFP, Wired | Image: dr_tr - C.C. License 2.0]

Finland hopes to build world’s first carbon-neutral green highway originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Wed, 25 Aug 2010 16:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

View full post on Autoblog Green