J.-Ph. Jarmer
Since March 2023, has been used to record ISO 14083 emissions greenhouse gasfrom logistics chains, sites, equipment, and transport. The Logistics Future Congress outlined efforts to make these emissions internationally comparable. These efforts included an "EcoTransIT World," a "REff-Tool," and "GILA."
A dedicated session on research highlights in Dortmund focused on the requirements of the new ISOstandard compared to the previous EN 16258 and the Global Logistics Emission Council (GLEC) framework. These requirements have already caused considerable panic among industry participants not directly involved with emissions issues, who fear a new bureaucratic nightmare.
Photo: Fercam/GILA
The ideal solution, of course, is to measure greenhouse gas emissions directly on-site, says Jan-Philipp Jarmer, environmental and resource specialist at the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics. However, since the full range of instruments isn't available everywhere, there must be ways emissions both in-house and those of subcontractors. for some timeEcoTransIT World . Ralph Antes,this one of the leading figures at the engineering firm, around 250 people there are currently working on organizing the emissions calculation for freight transport worldwide into a single software program. As early as 2022 , in collaboration with companies like Schenker, Fercam, Noerpel, and Hupac, over 4.3 billion transports were processed by the calculator, whose inputandoutput parameters an online platform are demonstrated Upon closer examination, – as is done in Switzerland using a life cycle assessment theirconstructionmethods and other factors in the to be included
Photo: v.Gelooven/GILA
“usuallystart by modeling We the entire route according to whether highways, city streets , or by rail,” explains Anthes. “That’s not so easy, because each country a different energy mix .” Then the individual stages added up. This is an energy-based “bottom-up approach,” where emissions are determined based on the energy required and the fuel used – unlike the more common “top-down approach”where “gCO2e/tkm” (CO2 equivalents in grams) are multiplied by the freight weight (in tons) and the kilometers traveled. Anthes explains that so-called “biofuels” emissions “zero” , “although almost all of them currently come from China”.
Fig.: GILA
Kerstin Dobers from Fraunhofer IML explains a REff tool (Resource Efficiency at Logistics Sites ), developed in collaboration with a consortium bearing the memorable name GILA (German, Italian & Latin American consortium for resource efficient logistics hubs & transport), . available online Enormous work has clearly already been done here. Among other things, in cooperation with Fercam, Fraunhofer IML, and Arcadis, 843 logistics sites in 51 countries were analyzed, including terminals with a combined throughput of 2.4 billion tons and 15.5 million square meters of logistics space. Dobers finds it difficult to derive any claim to absolute validity or general applicability from this considerable total: "We cannot provide a total CO2 figure here".
K. Dobers in conversation. Photo: klk.
And unfortunately, only a single cold storage facility was included. The Fraunhofer expert explained: "Although we based on the refill quantities – knowat least 4 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions are caused by refrigerant leaks"The high greenhouse gas share from the Czech Republic is also regrettable in this context – a significant portion of the country still relies on hard coal production. The software tool can be used online free of charge. The reason for this, says Dobers, is "that by using it, we are also requesting permission to include the data in our statistics".
CO2 equivalents, such as those used for research in sustainable supply chain management and mobility at ZHAW, reveal trends with somewhat higher reliability, according to experts. These equivalents include both CO2 and "drivers" like nitrous oxide, methane, and refrigerants. Dobers himself generally advises critically examining the values obtained: "Personally, Iwould never trust a result in this matter that presents a number after a decimal place".
Author: Klaus Koch
