It’s re-assuring to see action of sustainable trucking in both Europe and in the United States and Canada. In Europe, a study “Freight Vision- Freight Transport 2050 foresight” initiated by the European Commission between 2008 and 2010, the topic also in North America reached public awareness with a recent paper funded by the BSR-network, “Transitioning to Low-Carbon Fuel: A Business Guide for Sustainable Trucking in North America”.
The BSR study shows that sustainability standards in North America at present are still underdeveloped, but provides practical guidelines for fleet managers and logistics providers to manage fuel sustainability today. This guide encourages trucking companies and truck fleets to understand their total fuel footprint within the entire transportation chain and to optimize their use of available fuel and vehicles in order to work on new low-carbon solutions.
While aiming at the same goal, the European approach typically concentrates on recommendations for future political agreement, concluding that a vision of a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from fuel by 80% in 2050 compared to the value in 2005 is realistic, as well as reducing the fossil fuel share to 40% within the same time frame. Based on this study, the EU Commission in 2013 launched a package of measures to ensure the build-up of alternative fuel stations across Europe and to promote sustainability in transport.
It is interesting to see that the challenge of sustainability in freight transport has turned into a global vision approached by both the EU and the countries of North America.
The Polygon team has already undertaken a number of CO2/clean fuel strategy studies on behalf of major enterprises. The Polygon system itself has extensive CO2 analysis capabilities, which is helps customers to understand the CO2 optimization potential within their global freight networks, and to simulate outcomes of different reduction scenarios. Contact us for more information.
