Comparing routes leads to reduced emissions for FMC

About FMC

Industry

SERVICES PROVIDED

ABOUT

The Challenge

PSA BDP was approached by Smart Freight
Centre*1 with an opportunity to take on a LEARN*2
Project. To embark on this project, we
wanted to collaborate with a partner who was interested in taking significant steps to reduce their carbon footprint. As such, we approached FMC, a global provider of solutions to customers in the agricultural, industrial, and consumer markets. FMC had previously expressed a keen interest in taking a closer look at CO2e*3 emissions in their global trade lanes.

The Goal

The goal of this project was two-fold: to test and validate the GLEC Framework methodology*4, and seek out more efficient ways to ship FMC’s product. This is a part of FMC’s environmental goal of quantifying their Scope 3 emissions and looking for areas of potential reduction. The project was funded by the European Commission, and supported by the Smart Freight Centre, and allowed FMC and PSA BDP to calculate CO2e emissions for selected trade lane routes in the supply chain. From there, alternative routes for each trade lane were identified and the CO2e emissions measured. These routes were then compared to the existing trade lanes to see if any opportunity existed for FMC to reduce their transportation emissions.

The Process

We provided FMC with the total emissions for four different trade lanes from November 2017 through April 2018. From there, we compared each original routing to two different alternative routing options. Additionally, the ocean emissions of the original and both alternative routings were reviewed and compared to the Clean Cargo Working Group*5(CCWG) average emissions.

The Results

In using the GLEC Framework, FMC and PSA BDP were able to calculate CO2e emissions for all of FMC’s logistics activities. When data was available, CO2e emissions became more accurate. When data was not available, default values were utilized. The results showed that all but one of FMC’s original routing choices utilized carriers with emissions lower than the CCWG average. In addition, all alternate routing options, except two, resulted in lower CO2e emissions as compared to the original routes.

If the alternative routes with the lowest CO2e emissions were chosen, FMC could see reductions in emissions from these selected routes by thirty-eight percent.

Next Steps

Working in collaboration, FMC and PSA BDP will look to apply the findings of this project to FMC’s trade lanes. As a result of the project, the GLEC Framework was successfully validated, and both companies have a clear understanding of the methodology. In turn, this provides greater insight into the emissions along FMC’s entire supply chain and will lead to a significant reduction in their overall CO2e emissions, global carbon footprint, and efforts toward a greener supply chain.

Index

*1 Smart Freight Centre (SFC) leads the way to an efficient and low-emissions global freight sector. SFC drives transparency and mobilizes multinational companies and their logistics partners to take action. This is done through global industry guidelines and solutions for emissions calculation, reporting and reduction.

*2 Logistics Emissions Accounting and Reduction Network (LEARN) project empowers business to reduce their carbon footprint through emissions measurement, reporting and verification and seeks to improve the GLEC Framework for Logistics Emissions Methodologies.

*3 Carbon Dioxide Equivalent (CO2e) Emissions: A term for describing different greenhouse gases in a common unit. For any quantity and type of greenhouse gas, CO2e signifies the amount of CO2 which would have the equivalent global warming impact.

*4 Global Logistics Emission Council (GLEC) Framework: The leading methodology for freight transport developed by the Smart Freight Centre/LEARN that integrates all existing methods into one universal framework.

*5 The Clean Cargo Working Group (CCWG) is focused on improving environmental performance in marine container transport using standardized tools for measurement, evaluation, and reporting. The CCWG was established in 2003 by BSR (Business for Social Responsibility) and founding industry members.