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https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/27432/critical-issues-in-transportation-for-2024-and-beyond

Measuring and improving energy efficiency of logistics

Energiatehokkuus logistiikassa. Logistiikan energiatehokkuuden mittaaminen ja parantaminen

In the logistics there is not an established practice for the measurement of energy efficiency. Traditionally the focus in the assessment of environmental effects of logistics has been on transport chains of products. The system boundaries for whole supply chain include raw material acquisition and production, inbound logistics of raw material and intermediate products, production, outbound logistics and the delivery of the products to the customers. Many of the relevant measures to evaluate the energy efficiency of logistics are based on transport mileage, like energy consumption of transport. It is often necessary to sum up the energy consumption values from different phases of supply chain in order to examine the energy efficiency of the whole supply chain. The energy efficiency of logistics has been measured for example with cumulative energy consumption, transport intensity and transport footprint and other indirect indicators, such as consumption of water, electricity and primary energy. According to the results the cumulative energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions can be applied as indicators of energy efficiency of supply chains. These indicators can be used in identifying the most energy-intensive consuming phases of supply chain phases and in identifying suitable measures to improve energy efficiency. Energy efficiency actions in logistics focus on product design, production planning and on the inbound and outbound logistics. Energy consumption calculations of paper and metal industry show that major part of the total energy consumption consists of production and producing raw materials. As both paper and metal industry are relatively energy-intensive, production covers almost two thirds and producing raw materials and transportation 20-28 % of the total energy consumption. In examined supply chains the share of transport operations is 11-13 % of the total energy consumption. By planning the transport chain the total energy consumption can be reduced by 1-4 percentage units. Examined transport chains of process industry supply chains involve typically bulk transports with high load factor. In bulk transports there is also possibility to favor energy and cost efficient transport modes. However, the results can not directly be generalized to all industrial branches, as in other branches the importance of inbound and outbound logistics to the energy consumption of the total supply chain is greater than in process industry. slightly from previous years. This report may be found at http://www.lvm.fi/web/fi/julkaisu/view/1169020

Language

  • Finnish

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Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 01334379
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Source Agency: Finnish Transport Agency
  • ISBN: 978-952-243-169-1
  • Files: ITRD
  • Created Date: Mar 28 2011 2:38PM