Sustainable Transport: Despite Recent Progress, There is Still Plenty of Room for Improvement
Wednesday, 04 August 2010 |   |  1 comment

Image by Kevin Dooley

(Datamonitor via COMTEX) -- Despite the success of recent green initiatives in the transport industry, there is still a long way to go to make it truly sustainable. As demand for greener logistics solutions rises, all parties concerned must do their bit to make the industry more environmentally friendly, which presents an opportunity for industry players with green credentials to win over eco-minded customers.

A recent initiative by Efficient Consumer Response in the UK, aimed at improving the efficiency of the food and grocery supply chain, has led to a saving of about 124 million lorry miles, according to the Institute of Grocery Distribution. The initiative led to a reduction in the number of trucks on UK roads by 2,000, saving 60 million liters of diesel fuel a year. The savings were generated through the sharing of best practice and external partnerships between retailers and their suppliers, such as through the co-sharing of trucks to deliver grocery products.

However, according to Datamonitor's latest research report, 'Sustainability in Transport', more initiatives such as these are needed to counter the rising emission levels generated by the logistics and express industry. Even after the huge volume losses sustained in 2009 and the recent shift from air to road and other more economical modes of transport are taken into consideration, and assuming the carbon intensity of transport modes remains constant, it is estimated that total global carbon emissions will increase by more than 12% over five years compared to 2008 levels, driven by the projected industry volume growth in a "steady state", that is, without any efficiency gains.

Collaborations between retailers, manufacturers and logistics service providers through combining resources and co-sharing can help to achieve efficiencies in the supply chain and reduce the overall environmental impact of the transport industry. However, assuming that a return to growth in freight and parcel volumes will occur in the next five years, efficiencies will have to be realized through either shifting cargo to more environmentally friendly means, or by reducing the intensity of vehicles within respective modes of transport.

In terms of reducing carbon intensity within modes, the highest yields will be achieved in the road transportation segment, as it is responsible for the majority of volume, and has a relatively high emission level per freight-tonne kilometer (FTK). This could be achieved by updating fleets of vehicles to more fuel-efficient alternatives, or by shifting cargo from road to rail, which could potentially generate large reductions in carbon emissions. According to Datamonitor's latest research, shifting 10% of current road traffic to rail will lead to an 8% decline in carbon emissions (measured in FTKs), as opposed to other modal shifts.

Recent research into carbon disclosure underlines a clear trend among end consumers, who are starting to demand sustainable products. In turn, this has led retailers to demand the same from their transport services providers, which demonstrates the growing importance for transport companies to be able to offer sustainable solutions to their shippers, and to upgrade their capabilities in this respect.

Source: smart-grid

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