How eco-friendly is your cargo?
21 / 01 / 2014
PANALPINA has introduced a new advanced carbon footprint calculator for its air cargo customers.
Set up in the wake of new reporting standard EN 16258, it automatically calculates all emissions from the transport services they use and includes upstream emissions from fuel production, other greenhouse gases besides CO2 – and energy consumption.
“Our EcoTransIT World tool helps customers develop effective strategies to reduce the environmental impact of their global transport chains,” says a Panalpina statement.
The system calculates emissions for each shipment, including pre- and on-carriage movements, based on distance, weight, transport mode, and the type of vessel or aircraft used.
For airfreight, the actual routing – which can involve several airports – is used. For ocean, ship size and speed reductions are considered.
Distances are calculated using comprehensive GIS (Geographic Information System) data. Besides worldwide up-to-date road networks, the database also contains geographic coordinates of some 100,000 airports and ports.
All relevant shipment information is sent from Panalpina’s communication platform to EcoTransIT servers where sophisticated algorithms are applied to calculate CO2 emissions and other parameters. The results are sent back to Panalpina where all the data is stored, reports compiled and then sent to customers.
“EcoTransIT is a proven technology for mass calculations with a flexible interface. With the new system we can run far more accurate and detailed reports and do it much more efficiently than in the past,” says Lindsay Zingg, global head of quality, health, safety and environment at Panalpina.
Read Nigel Tomkin’s full story in the next edition of Air Cargo News 27 January 2014 – Issue 769