green

Food and agriculture giant Cargill has signed an agreement with SkySails GmbH & Co. KG (SkySails) to use wind power technology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the shipping industry. SkySails, based in Hamburg, Germany, has developed patented technology that uses a kite which flies ahead of a shipping vessel and generates enough propulsion to reduce consumption of bunker fuel by up to 35% in ideal sailing conditions.

Phase I of California's Cap and Trade program begins on January 1. 350 California businesses representing approximately 600 facilities will be covered by the program. Those businesses will be mostly electric utilities and large industrial facilities and will need to fully comply by 2013. Distributors of transportation, natural gas and other fuels will need to become compliant in 2015.

It was an interesting year for the Green Supply Chain in 2010, with the level of interest going sideways at best by many accounts.

This was probably best exemplified by the lack of interest in the December Cancun global climate meeting, with received just a fraction of the media coverage versus the meeting in Copenhagen the previous year. Combined with the fact that no meaningful agreement was reached at Cancun, and it appears the current Kyoto protocol will expire without being extended, and this is not good news for the Green SCM movement, as lack of a regulatory framework means each company is simply free to pursue whatever Green initiatives it chooses to or not.

The logistics market sector accounts for over 5% of all greenhouse gas emissions, and it's time that the industry as a whole got together to develop global guidelines for sustainable logistics services, says John Pattullo, CEO of CEVA Logistics, a third-party logistics provider.

"In recent years many countries have issued environmental legislation targeting businesses,” Pattullo says. “However, following Copenhagen, we still have no global agreement or clear global targets. Since consistent state regulations are not to be expected anytime soon, all those involved within logistics need to work collectively to develop globally accepted regulations."

The American Railcar Institute Committee (ARCI) of the Railway Supply Institute (RSI) has commended Congress for introducing The Green Railcar Enhancement Act of 2010, which is currently co-sponsored by and supported by over 50 Members of Congress.

"This legislation will help revitalize the U.S. freight car manufacturing industry, generate between 30,000 and 50,000 jobs nationwide, and stimulate the adoption of "green" technology enhancements in only two years," says James Unger, vice chairman of American Railcar Industries and spokesman for the ARCI.

The pursuit of sustainability will transform the logistics industry, both in terms of its business model as well as the range of advanced solutions and technologies that will be used by logistics service providers, according to a new study released by Deutsche Post DHL as a follow-up to the 2009 Delphi Study on ten top future trends. The study is based on research and contributions from international experts as well as a representative survey of 3,600 business customers and consumers worldwide.

Deutsche Post DHL has committed to a carbon efficiency target of 30% improvement by the year 2020 compared with 2007.

DHL and The Logistics Institute - Asia Pacific (TLI – Asia Pacific) of the National University of Singapore (NUS) have established the S$3 million Sustainable Supply Chain Centre of Asia-Pacific (SSCCAP). The initiative will be a best practice hub and intellectual property engine designed to drive sustainable supply chain development in the Asia-Pacific region.

Building on DHL’s global GoGreen environmental protection program, its own sustainable supply chain expertise and its global GoGreen customer solutions, the Centre will create practical business tools for the industry to establish benchmarks in areas of sustainable logistics solutions, involving research and education.

In 2007 and 2008, major retailers and consumer products companies were active in a variety of initiatives around Green products for consumers. For example, in 2007 Wal-Mart announced a new “Living Better Index” with plans to track sales of products in several categories thought to represent "sustainability."

That same year, the retail giant announced plans for a Green supplier scorecard that would be used in some way when considering what products to stock on its shelves and eventually visible identification of "Green-ness" to consumers.

-- Logistics Management, 12/1/2009

The recession may have forced companies to put some or all of their "green" initiatives on the backburner. However, with the turnaround coming, our presenters tell us that now is the time to look at just how sustainable your supply chain is and what you can do to lessen its environmental impact.

Ships powered by skysails and solar, gas-powered locomotives and the use of biofuel are just some of the future technologies that could help to make the freight industry more sustainable, according to the South Australian Freight Council (SAFC) (www.safreightcouncil.com.au/).

SAFC believes that the freight industry has a responsibility to become more sustainable and reduce its impact on the environment.

The council has released a discussion paper, Green Freight, which is aimed at highlighting current industry efforts to become more sustainable, and discusses future initiatives that the industry could adopt.

SAFC CEO Neil Murphy said it was clear that the environment played an increasing role in transport and logistics and that action needed to be taken within the freight industry.