Promoting energy efficient use of diesel-driven machinery 

During the period from August 1, 2011 to June 31, 2014, the County Administrative Board of Uppsala was responsible for implementation of the cooperative project “Promoting energy efficient use of diesel-driven machinery in Uppsala Municipality”. The project involved forest machinery used in the local agriculture and the construction sectors. The project’s target group was private business owners and municipal managers, as well as machine operators in municipalities, construction, forestry, and agricultural enterprises. Partners in the project included the Forestry Research Institute, JTI – Swedish Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Engineering, Uppsala Municipality and the Energy Office of Mälardalen. The project was part of the implementation of the county’s climate and energy strategy. The main sponsor was Swedish Energy Agency.

The Forestry Research Institute, a collaborator especially in the forestry component of the project, produces high-quality training courses in “eco-driving” under the RECO concept (Rational Efficient Cost-Optimization). The Forestry Research Institute and Harg’s Mill with one of their forest contractors conducted a pilot project to increase efficiency for logging work. The pilot project produced a highly acclaimed instructional video to be used in education of forestry and agricultural students, forest contractors and other forest stakeholders, and was financed outside the main project.