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

One efficient way to control the CO2 emissions from the transport sector is the replacement of
gasoline passenger cars by Diesel ones, which emit less CO2. 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 CO2 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 CO2 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
CO2 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.