Press Release: Greening buses and trucks! Commission’s research centre opens new CO2 emissions testing laboratory

European Commissioner for Science and Research, Janez Potočnik, opened a new facility for testing fuel consumption and emissions of trucks and buses. The new installation, 'VELA 7' at the Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) in Ispra (Northern Italy), realistically simulates wind drag, tyre/road friction and full drive cycles for real-life articulated lorries of up to 40 tonnes or 12m long buses. It comes at a crucial time since implementation guidelines for new emission standards, notably the Euro VI regarding heavy duty vehicles, must be defined by 1st April 2010.