Key Factors for Measurement of CO₂ Emissions

Abstract

Along with the rapid growth of seaborne traffic volumes and rising public concern about environment, transport and logistics services are experiencing increasing pressures not only to improve their operational efficiency and reduce costs but also to minimize their environmental impacts. The requirement to become more sustainable is also inevitable for seaports and terminals, as significant nodes in the intermodal transport chain. A number of approaches on calculating and documenting carbon footprint are available for transport and logistics services, and many major ports and terminals have also started adopting them. The selection criteria of which methodology to be applied would finally depend on what a company wants to achieve. Nevertheless, it is crucial that the methodology should allow identification and focus on areas of improvements in order to develop an efficient energy saving and reduction measures and allow fair allocation of emissions. The objective of this chapter is to develop an applicable carbon footprint measurement framework for ports and terminals to serve three principals: a transparent and standardized CO_2-equivalent -measurement method, a consistent reporting scheme and an effective management system for ports and terminals. To achieve this, an assessment on selected existing methodologies and identification of key factors for calculation of carbon footprint at a container terminal will be performed and elucidated.