Neste Oil survey: People expect technology to be the key to more environmentally friendly traffic and transport
Neste Oil Corporation
Press release
15 March 2013 at 11 a.m. (EET)
Neste Oil survey: People expect technology to be the key to more environmentally friendly traffic and transport
- Finns spend less time commuting than people in seven other countries
A questionnaire-based survey* commissioned by Neste Oil and carried out in eight countries highlights the importance of everyday traffic and transport for people today and their hopes for more environmentally friendly solutions in this area. In addition to the practical benefits of mobility, people enjoy being on the move. Finns see cars as a positive mode of transport if cars and the fuels they use are ecological. "People expect technology to be key in making traffic and transport more ecological and more cost-effective," says Heikki Liimatainen of the Tampere University of Technology.
Neste Oil recently surveyed the amount of time people spend travelling, the various modes of transport they use, the ecological solutions they would most like to see in the field, and the expectations they have about traffic and transport in 2030.
The results of the survey confirm that people are willing to help reduce the impact that traffic and transport have on the environment. Solutions seen as likely to make a contribution here include reduced fuel consumption, reductions in the logistics footprint associated with shopping, more ecological fuels, and public transport.
"Keeping people and goods on the move is essential to modern society, and people want to be mobile," according to Neste Oil's President & CEO, Matti Lievonen, speaking at the event announcing the results of the survey. "Given the essential nature of traffic and transport today, we at Neste Oil are committed to helping develop the sector and how it performs. We commissioned this survey to find out more about people's attitudes to traffic and transport and highlight the changes and innovations that people believe have the biggest potential for making traffic and transport more effective and reducing its impact on the environment."
Lower-emission cars, smaller logistics footprints, and more ecological fuel are high on people's wish-lists
Finnish responses to the survey indicate that they see lower fuel consumption (50%), smaller logistics footprints associated with shopping (46%), and more ecological fuel (36%) as the best ways to make traffic and transport more environmentally friendly. Public transport was not ranked as important in Finland, a large country with a small population, as it was by respondents in Germany and the Netherlands, which are both more densely populated.
Electric cars and public transport, nevertheless, proved the most popular areas of improvement overall between now and 2030 for respondents. 2.5% of respondents said they would like to see teleportation part of everyday mobility by 2030.
"People tend to look for the 'easy option', and expect technology to provide the answer to reducing the carbon footprint associated with traffic and transport," according to Heikki Liimatainen, a researcher at the Tampere University of Technology's Verne Transport Research Centre, who also spoke at the event. "Technology does indeed have a lot of potential to offer, but only if people actually adopt low-carbon modes of transport. Clear and determined decisions in transport policy will be needed to help them make this change."
Only 20% of Finns spend more than an hour commuting, compared to 38% of Germans
Of the countries covered in the survey, people in Canada and Germany spend the most time commuting to work, school, or college. Finns, in comparison, spend the least time. Only 20% of Finns typically spend more than an hour on their daily commute, while the figure in Germany is nearly double, 38%. This gives Finns more free time and more time to travel for leisure.
While commuting is part of people's daily routines, people enjoy its benefits as well, such as listening to music, enjoying the view, or the company of the people they travel with.
Around 60% of Finns use their cars to do their shopping
The survey showed that cars are people's most popular form of transport for shopping. This is clearest in the US, where 81% of people use a car for their daily shopping, compared to 61% in Finland. Finns use their cars much less in other areas of their lives, such as hobbies and pastimes or travelling to work (38%).
* A total of 8,197 people between the ages of 15 and 70, reflecting a cross-section of the population, took part in the survey in eight countries: Finland, Sweden, Russia, Germany, the Netherlands, Britain, the US, and Canada. Miltton, a communications and public relations consultancy company, and Cint, a market insight software company, carried out the survey on behalf of Neste Oil.
Neste Oil Corporation
Kaisa Lipponen
Director, Corporate Communications
Further information: Kaisa Lipponen, Director, Corporate Communications, tel. +358 (0)50 458 5044
Neste Oil in brief
Neste Oil Corporation is a refining and marketing company concentrating on low-emission, high-quality traffic fuels. The company produces a comprehensive range of major petroleum products and is the world's leading supplier of renewable diesel. Neste Oil had net sales of EUR 17.9 billion in 2012 and employs around 5,000 people, and is listed on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki.
Neste Oil is included in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index and the Ethibel Pioneer Investment Register, and has featured in The Global 100 list of the world's most sustainable corporations for many years. Forest Footprint Disclosure (FFD) has ranked Neste Oil as one of the best performers in the oil & gas sector. Further information: www.nesteoil.com