Pilot trials
During the project, various pilot trials will be implemented in the transport and land use sectors. These pilot trials will provide concrete data for assessing the handprint potential, and the goal is to expand the use of pilots proven to be effective throughout the city. In the transportation sector, the pilots have focused on increasing the number of shared cars and city bikes, as well as mapping out charging options for electric cars in housing cooperatives. In the land use sector, we are focusing on the benefits of deadwood and increasing the amount of fiber in fields. In addition to these, we have been considering, among other things, the use of biochar in agriculture and the sinking of tree stumps into a wetland areas. You can read more about the ongoing pilot trials below.
Raising awareness is also an essential part of the project, and we have been doing this through various events.
In the electrification of transportation, home charging plays a crucial role, as privately owned electric vehicles are most often charged at home. However, arranging charging home charging in larger apartment complexes (housing cooperatives) can be difficult due to lack of information on the capacity of apartment’s electrical system, or the bureaucratic requirements on facilitating the construction and the management of the charging infrastructure. The goal of the charging point assessment conducted was to find possibilities, barriers and ‘bottlenecks’ of construction of home charging in larger apartment complexes in the Lappeenranta region.
Based on prior information from Lappeenranta Energiaverkot (local distribution network operator), there should be enough unused capacity left in the overall electrical system of larger apartments in the Lappeenranta area. The assessment acts as case study to find real-life issues and their solutions and considers how scalable these solutions could be. At the same time, the assessment process is meant to distribute information for the housing cooperatives on the requirements of construction, management, and other demands of home charging infrastructure.