Neste Oil´s biodiesel to cut public transport emissions in Greater Helsinki

Neste Oil Corporation    
Press Release
20 October 2006 at 00.15 p.m. EET

Neste Oil, Helsinki City Transport (HKL), and the Helsinki Metropolitan Area Council (YTV) have signed a letter of understanding covering extensive trial use of Neste Oil’s second-generation biodiesel to power buses and waste disposal trucks across Greater Helsinki.

The trial, to start in fall 2007, will last until the end of 2010 and will embrace around 700 buses and 75 waste trucks. The aim is twofold: to reduce urban emissions and promote the use of biofuels on the road.

Neste Oil’s second-generation NExBTL biodiesel will be the main fuel used. Vehicles in the trial will use either a 30% NExBTL/70% conventional diesel oil mix or 100% NExBTL. Between 5,000 and 10,000 tons of biodiesel will be used annually, equivalent to 15-30% of the fuel used by buses and waste trucks in the Helsinki region. The trial includes the option to test other fuels for comparative purposes.

“This public transport trial in Greater Helsinki is an important step for us, as it is a large-scale, highly visible and highly credible public initiative to test the operational and emissions performance of a second-generation biodiesel,” according to Kimmo Rahkamo, Executive Vice President, Components at Neste Oil. “We believe that our biodiesel will enable urban transport emissions to be cut significantly.”

The trial will require national public funding, and an application will be lodged for a tax concession on the biocomponent to be used. Alternatively, use will be made of incentives linked to biofuel legislation planned for introduction in Finland in 2008 or an investment grant to cover the logistics costs involved.

The intention is to extend NExBTL biodiesel trials to public transport in other EU capitals in the future.

Neste Oil Corporation
Osmo Kammonen
Senior Vice President, Communications

For further information, please contact:

Kimmo Rahkamo, Executive Vice President, Components on +358 10 458 4247
Jyrki Ignatius, Vice President, Biofuels on +358 10 458 7034.

Neste Oil Corporation is a refining and marketing company specializing in advanced, clean traffic fuels, with a strategy that prioritizes growing its refining and premium-quality biodiesel businesses. Neste Oil's refineries are located in Porvoo and Naantali in Finland, and have a total refining capacity of approx. 250,000 bbl/d. The company employs around 4,600 people. Neste Oil is listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange. For further information, see www.nesteoil.com.

NExBTL (Next Generation Biomass to Liquid) is a new bio-based, premium-quality diesel oil developed by Neste Oil. NExBTL offers excellent performance, fully meeting automotive manufacturers’ requirements with very low levels of tailpipe emissions. Virtually all known vegetable oil and animal fat can be used as raw materials for the highly flexible proprietary NExBTL process. The first NExBTL production plant is currently under construction at Neste Oil’s Porvoo refinery. With a rated capacity of 170,000 t/a, the facility is scheduled to come on stream in summer 2007.