At the European joint committee Era-net road, VTI and six other partners have started the project Miravec. Together, they will study how improvements in the infrastructure can contribute to reduced carbon dioxide emissions from the transport sector.
The transport sector accounts for a major proportion of all greenhouse gases. In order to reduce emissions, it is important to take into account all factors affecting the fuel consumption of vehicles. In addition to more effective vehicles, improvements to the infrastructure can contribute to a reduction in fuel consumption.
The EU project Miravec, Modelling infrastructure influence on road vehicle energy consumption, aims to generate knowledge about how the infrastructure can reduce vehicle fuel consumption in different ways. The project will use existing knowledge, models and tools in order to, among other things, examine how for example road design affects the flow of traffic. Researchers will also evaluate the importance of the quality of different road surfaces in relation to factors such as topography and type of road system.
Through Miravec, researchers hope to contribute to a more holistic approach to the effects of the infrastructure than currently available. When completed, the project will result in recommendations on how the results can be implemented to the management of road systems. Miravec will be completed by the autumn of 2013.
Photo: Lasse Hejdenberg