Understanding: Green vs. Carbon

I'm all over this green thing now. 

Mainly because I believe it will be the key to profitability in the supply chain sector in months and years to come.  It costs too much to move goods with fossil fuels costing north of 100 US dollars a barrel. It is killing everybody from the airlines and ocean carriers to parcel carriers and private citizens. We Americans spend well over US$ 50 dollars a tankful for gas, but thats nothing compared to what European drivers must pay. 

People tend to imagine "green" as planting trees and taking care of the environment.   In fact, its much more than that.  It is also about making the best use of all available fuel resources in order to drive cost out of a business. European governments are looking at ways to tax carbon fuel use. So, in a very real sense being "green" means more "bling" at the bottom line.

DHL is working on some pretty creative things on the green fuel consumption front in the UK.   Many DHL Express stations in the UK get their electricity now from wind energy. There are other initiatives also being considered. The article below discusses a service provided by a local Volvo commercial truck dealer in the UK who now is launching a fuel consultancy business.

From a dealer point of view, this comes down to educating the commercial haulier how to effectively use their new truck in the most fuel efficient way. If the driver and company don't follow recommended methods, the new trucks won't make an efficient cost saving (green) impact.

Now lets take it to a higher level. Lets say the transport company wants to trade carbon credits with a major conglomerate customer. The transport company runs an efficient operation and is considered a green service provider. If the local operations in a given country are inefficient, this opportunity can't happen because there won't be any credits to trade.  The net result is that this whole cycle comes down to measuring fuel and operational efficiency. When efficiency is getting traded,  it can be guaranteed that service will improve as well. 

Everybody keeps thinking this green thing is about hugging trees. It is NOT. It is about saving money that otherwise would be used to pay for fossil fuels. The efficiency will be translated into carbon credits. That will translate into everything from carrier selection to purchase of fleet vehicles and warehouse management resources. All this stuff ties together. Carriers and 3PL service providers who wind up with positive carbon credits will be able to use those as currency with customers who need those credits to prevent taxation. Folks this is not about rates...

Alternative energies and carbon trading can promote energy independence thats financially prudent, good for the environment and potentially lessens the power of the oil cartel on business. 

(Do you understand why I'm motivated now?)   

clipped from www.easier.com Thomas Hardie launches Fuel Torque 12 March 2008 Thomas Hardie Commercials, the main distributor for Volvo truck, bus & coach and LDV light Commercial Vehicles in the Northwest is the first dealer in the UK to launch a fuel consultancy scheme:- Fuel Torque. Fuel Torque is a concept designed to help transport companies make dramatic savings on their fuel costs. “The savings could be massive,” says John Parry, former Engineering Director DHL/Exel Supply Chain “and could have a major impact on a companies profitability”. “As an example, taking a 40-vehicle fleet currently averaging 8 mpg, a 5% fuel saving could potentially add more than £90,000 to the bottom line of the business.  Fuel Management should be a fundamental discipline of any transport operation”. Thomas Hardie Commercials would supply the resource to the customer, analysing the transport operation, vehicles and drivers over a pre-determined period of time.

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Comments

[Cheyenne Miranda]

In the Spring of '07 the Alabama State Port Authority approved a biodiesel program for reducing emissions from operating equipment. All diesel combustion engine equipment at the port, including eight locomotive engines, three cranes and dozens of vehicles and lifts now use a fuel mixture that is 20% biodiesel. (Source Jan '08 issue Alabama Seaport). ASPA is also investing in Hybrid vehicles. Page Siplon, Director of the Logistics Innovation Council, a partnership between the State of Georgia and Georgia Institute of Technology, reported at a recent Atlanta Maritime Association forum (www.atlmaritime.org) on technology trends, spoke of an innovative energy development - a strip that would be placed at the trucker entry gates at ports, when driven over, to generate potentially enough energy to power port facility's energy needs.

The consensus in public and private sector seems to have "crossed the Rubicon" into a systemic approach to focus on energy efficiency and alternative sources. Ironic to think that President Jimmy Carter's initiatives of the 70's to make Energy a strategic priority for our nation have made him somewhat of a visionary. Likely though to be a footnote in his legacy.

[Eric]

Thanks for your comment Cheyenne. I personally think Carter was one of the weakest presidents this country has ever had (including the current boob). However on the energy front you may be right.

[jesie]

While it is a good idea not to rely on crude oil which we do not have enough in this country, and start to use alternative sources to generate energy, what do we want to do with the abundant carbon/coal we have in this country? How many percent of electricity/energy can alternative green methods supply?

I live in a state where many people make a living from the coal industry. About half of the electricity in this country is fueled by coal. Do we want 50% of the time we have to go without electricity?

It was so sad to see many in this community lost their jobs a decade ago when only one coal mine shut down. Their future was shattered.

We may go green to solve an environmental issue but the impact on unemployment will impact the country socially, and economically as well. I sympathize with many people dependent on the carbon/coal industry for a living more than the environment. Humans are more precious and the challenge is how to balance both humans and the environment.

[Eric]

I think coal remains a primary fuel source for many years to come. Check out another article here on Freightdawg about how the Chinese are converting coal into all kinds of things, ranging from liquid fuels to plastics.

In due course, I think that everyone on the planet is going to have to progress past fossil fuels to other alternatives. Ethanol is one alternative, but ONLY if its produced from non food sources. Our food on our table today in America is greatly impacted by farmers not growing corn and soya for feedstocks for beef, but instead selling it for ethanol. Thats why poultry and beef are so expensive in the US now. Instead we need to use switchgrass and or algae. Brazil uses sugarcane.

I think coal producers in the US will be able to sell all they want. Coal though is dirty, and dangerous to mine. One day, we'll get past it but that may take 100 years.