Summary
• HDV CO2 emissions will be brought under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme in 2013.
• HDVs account for 26% of road transport emissions.
• BSW is removing 208 lorries from local roads.
Whichever way we look at it, it’s coming. The European Union’s commissioner for climate action, Connie Hedegaard, announced last November that a strategy will be put forward in 2013 to tackle CO2 emissions from heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs), by bringing them under the European Emissions Trading Scheme. This means freight transport will effectively have a defined price beyond the cost of fuel.
According to the EU, transport is its second biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions, with road transport by far the largest contributor. And HDVs account for 26% of the road transport emissions.
To begin addressing freight optimisation, are there examples from other sectors worth investigating?
David Jinks, head of communication at the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, predicts a co-operative future. “We are already seeing more collaboration between major companies, even those which are big rivals,” he said.
“It makes sense to cut costs and emissions by planning transport to the same outlets together. This can work even better when a third-party logistics company is involved, which may have other customers to bring into the equation.
“A useful development for timber companies is the recent concept of port-centric transport hubs,” he added. “The receiving port becomes the distribution point, rather than goods coming off the ships, then being transported by lorry to a distribution centre elsewhere, and then frequently transported back into the region adjacent to the port.”
He also feels greater efforts are needed on rail transport solutions. “There have been some far-sighted initiatives, such as Colas Rail Freight and Kronospan’s reopening of a disused branch line in Devon, but still greater flexibility from operators and creative government grants could significantly reduce the impact of this traffic on UK roads,” he said.
An anti-idling campaign in Travis Perkins’ delivery fleet, accompanied by route-planning software, has resulted in the saving of 2,400 tonnes of CO2 emissions since 2009. This achievement recently won the merchant the Gold Standard Award in Transport for London’s Freight Operator Recognition Scheme.
Taking ownership
Travis Perkins’ group environment manager, Jez Cutler, says the key lies in marrying the two operations. “Working in tandem, the software empowers branch managers to program the most effective delivery route around local customers, both from a cost and a carbon perspective,” he said. “It encourages branches to take more ownership of their emissions and to push forward with efficiency.
“We approach the carbon challenge in two ways: doing the right thing, such as reducing transport emissions, and showing leadership. On the latter we’re working closely with supply chains on the embodied carbon in the products we sell. It’s a longer-term challenge but we’re already under way with leading suppliers, understanding the carbon make-up of their operations and products and working together to reduce emissions wherever possible.”
BSW Timber is also aware of the complex link between operations, emissions and transport, and the potential impact on the overall sustainability profile of timber. “We’re in the process of removing 280 lorries from local roads,” said marketing manager Eve Johnson. “We’re transferring heat production for our sawmill kilns at Newbridge-on-Wye from oil to using co-products from sawmilling on site, in a new 6MW woodchip boiler. We’ve also installed one of the UK’s largest biomass hot water boilers at the plant. Two 3MW units will create environmental savings of more than 2,800 tonnes of CO2 per year.”
While our sector continues to promote timber as a sustainable material, we are being encouraged to present its credentials within the exacting framework of full life cycle analysis. This will demand an increasing focus on responsible transport. Timber Trade Federation sustainability manager Anand Punja advises the sector to keep alert and look ahead.
“The EU has already included aviation in its Emissions Trading Scheme and is now looking at shipping,” he said. “We’re keeping a watching brief on whether this could be extended further.
“We feel the industry should start now in addressing the levels of transport it uses, and analyse where cost and carbon savings could be made. We have a highly sustainable material to offer our customers: we must make sure that we address its sustainability fully, right through the supply chain, to give the industry the greatest competitive edge.”
