Reducing transport emissions – Oeko-Institut develops guidelines for eco-logistics

Oeko-Institut (Institute for Applied Ecology) presents – together with the Association of German Freight Forwarders and Logistics Operators (Deutscher Speditions- und Logistikverband e.V. - DSLV) and the Heidelberg Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (Institut für Energie- und Umweltforschung Heidelberg - ifeu) – guidelines for calculating the greenhouse gas emissions of freight forwarders and logistics operators. These guidelines represent a big step towards establishing standardised and transparent carbon balances for logistics operators and freight transport services. The project was sponsored by the German Federal Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt).

“Only if you know precisely what amount of greenhouse gas emissions are caused on transport routes across Europe can you take measures to reduce them in the long term and make an active contribution to climate protection,” said Martin Schmied, author of the guidelines and an expert at Oeko-Institut on greenhouse gas balances of companies.Fuel and power consumption can be determined by operators themselvesThe guidelines provide basic knowledge on climate protection and carbon balances and show freight forwarders and logistics operators how to calculate their fuel and power consumption on their own. Based on practical examples the guidelines present conversion factors and calculation formulas, by means of which energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions can be determined in a standardised way for specific transport routes. “For some years the logistics industry has been pursuing the question of how it can make the transport of goods more climate-friendly,” says Mr Schmied. “Up to now, however, there haven’t been any common standards for calculating the greenhouse gas emissions of logistics operators. As a result, each company does it differently; a standardised procedure is lacking which would foster transparency, real emission reductions and, last but not least, credibility.”Standardised calculation methodsStandardised methods for calculating the carbon balances of freight transport services are contained in these guidelines, based on the current CEN Draft European standard “Methodology for calculation and declaration on energy consumptions and GHG emissions in transport services” (prEN 16258:2011). The CEN norm aims to standardise calculation methodologies within the EU and therefore forms a key basis for the guidelines. Many questions relating to the GHG emission balances of logistics operators will be answered by these guidelines. However, it was not possible to analyse all means of transport in the same depth; there are also some open questions concerning special cases. These areas will be addressed comprehensively in the forthcoming book “CO2-Berechnung in der Logistik” [Calculation of CO2 emissions in logistics], which will be published by the Heinrich Vogel publishing house in summer 2011.Download the guidelines “Calculating the greenhouse gas emissions of freight forwarders and logistics operators” from the website of the Association for German Freight Forwarders and Logistics Operators (in German only).ContactMartin SchmiedDeputy Head of Infrastructure & Enterprises Division Oeko-Institut e.V., Berlin officeEmail contact