Diesel cars in Finland eco-friendlier than electric ones?

Recent debate over the eco-friendliness of motoring has revolved around Tesla and electric cars, Google and self-driving cars and overall car structures. However, Lars Peter Lindfors, Senior Vice President fom Neste argues in his blog for a solution that does not require new cars:

When fuel is produced from waste and residues, its greenhouse gas emissions fall dramatically, at best by as much as 90 % compared with fossil diesel.

At the moment, in Finland the emissions of a car fueled by diesel made from waste and residue are lower than those of an electric car if the emissions of an electric car include the emissions assigned to the current life cycle phase of Finnish electricity production. The CO₂ emissions of a diesel car are 106 g per km, the full life cycle emissions using 100 % diesel made from animal waste fat would be as low as 24 g/km. The corresponding figure of an electric car is 28 g/km.

Locally particulate emissions are practically zero thanks to the particulate filters of modern diesel cars. Exhaust systems produce fewer particulates than street dust and other sources, which are not affected by the type of engine that a car has. Nitrogen oxide emissions are reduced by urea-based catalytic converters, which are everyday features on modern trucks and buses and are making their way to private cars and vans.

Source: neste
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