Adapt or die

Thursday, 13 May 2010 08:38

The transport sector has to show leadership in tackling South Africa’s bloated carbon footprint

As the world grapples with the challenges of climate change, South Africa finds itself in the dubious position of being among the top 20 carbon emitters on the planet. And approximately 25% of South Africa’s total carbon emissions emanate from its transport sector, with the road transport sector in particular responsible for half thereof.

Another chilling detail: Africa’s first Soccer World Cup to be hosted in South Africa this year is expected to generate a carbon footprint eight times that of the 2006 World Cup in Germany – most of it from transport, even before long-haul international travel to and from South Africa has been taken into account.

According to a government database currently being updated, carbon dioxide is the most significant of the three main greenhouse gases in South Africa, contributing more than 80% of the total emissions of these three gases. The main source of CO2 emissions is the energy sector, generating 89.7% of the total CO2 emissions in the measured period, with transport contributing about 15% to that figure. Transport emissions increased by 38% – the highest of any sector.

Little wonder that the focus of green initiatives has shifted rapidly to road transport. Not only is it forcing the government to exert more pressure on the road transport sector to embrace cleaner, or green, technologies and practices, but it also increasingly will pressurise the government toward moving freight off the roads and onto cleaner transport modes such as rail. Voices in support of such a paradigm shift are being heard, including at last year’s Nepad Transport Summit in Johannesburg. The challenge for the road freight industry is clear: adapt or die.

An authoritative North American study that surveyed more than 250 supply chain executives, found that green issues rapidly are becoming the number-one priority for companies of all sizes. Coming from a region that is arguably one of the most reluctant to get in line with global trends to reduce harmful environmental practices – that is saying much.

In South Africa, green responsibility has caught on fast, particularly in respect of transport operations. With up to 75% of a company’s carbon footprint coming from transportation and logistics, it should be no surprise, however, that the greening focus in the supply chain is moving to exactly this area.

A number of the larger South African companies with sizeable transport operations, such as SABMiller, have been looking at ways to reduce their transport-related carbon footprint. “We aim to distribute our products in an energy-efficient way. We’re investigating our transport impacts, though it can prove a challenge to get complete information from third parties in all our markets,” says SABMiller. In the United States, the company has increased its transport efficiency by almost 20% through sharing brewing facilities with another brewer, Coors, thus reducing transport requirements. This co-operation is estimated to equate to 72 million fewer kilometres travelled by their trucks, 325 000 barrels of crude oil saved, and a reduction in CO2 emissions of nearly 75 000 tonnes by the end of 2010.

South African paper maker Sappi says it is reducing its carbon footprint successfully worldwide. This has entailed streamlining its transport systems, but also installing more efficient equipment, reducing purchased energy and switching increasingly to using renewable energy. Sappi chief executive officer Ralph Boettger says that one of its primary goals in reducing the company’s greenhouse gas emissions was to reduce its carbon footprint by improving its energy efficiencies and decreasing its reliance on fossil fuels. This, Boettger said in a statement, was being achieved by streamlining transport systems, making process changes, installing more efficient equipment, reducing purchased energy (electricity and fossil fuel) and increasing the use of renewable energy.

Good progress had been made, with CO2 emissions globally per tonne of product produced declining since 2005 – in North America by as much as 27% between 2004 and 2008.

South African logistics and supply chain management company Imperial Logistics also has risen to the challenge. The company, noting that trucks account for about 5% of the global CO2 emissions, recently announced that it had ordered five Euro V emission standard trucks from Mercedes-Benz South Africa (MBSA) in an effort to reduce its emissions footprint. (Euro V is an emission standard for vehicles, with South African law currently requiring the use of Euro II standard engines on trucks.) Meanwhile, the South African National Energy Research Institute will be hosting a Green Transport Programme aimed at showcasing green transport technology options during the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup and beyond.

It is particularly in the transport and logistics sector where the greatest opportunities exist to make a difference and where a growing body of experience is beginning to tell company executives that they stand to gain enormous benefits in financial return on investment, improved supply chain efficiency and in public relations payback.Looking at what actual initiatives already had been implemented or planned by companies, the research conducted by US research company eyefortransport found that improved energy efficiency ranked highest at 59%, followed by redesigning warehousing and distribution centre networks at 42% and the measuring and/or reduction of emissions at 39%. Twenty-seven percent reported that their green initiatives were improving their supply chain efficiency. The researchers found that most companies no longer believed that supply chain greening was a necessary evil affordable only by the largest multinational companies.

According to the international carbon management and efficiency company Global Carbon Exchange (GCX), the transport industry will be affected by climate change due to its growing carbon-emissions contribution. High-emissions taxes in Europe already have had expensive implications for its aviation industry, and these costs are expected to affect the profitability of all transportation companies, says GCX. Transportation companies’ dependence on fossil fuel and the lack of viable alternatives have put upward pressure on costs and resulted in increased competition. Ed Gluckman, managing director of GCX in Cape Town, says transport forms a significant part of the carbon footprint of most companies. “This would include company-owned vehicles and outsourced vehicles such as rentals and distribution. Company-owned vehicles under the Green House Gas Protocol (GHGP) fall under Scope 1 (on-site emissions generation) of a company’s carbon footprint; while outsourced activities fall under Scope 3 (upstream and downstream emissions). “Companies can positively impact their transport-related emissions through a focus on fuel efficiency devices such as aerators in the petrol tank, fuel switch – to biodiesel – and training such as low-carbon emissions driver training. The benefits are clear in that a reduction in the carbon emissions of a company’s transport translates directly into bottom line savings on fuel,” adds Gluckman.

Speaking at a recent Unisa panel discussion, Joanne Yawitch, deputy director-general of the Department of Environmental Affairs: Environmental Quality and Protection, said while business had done well, more was required, as the risks to business were substantial. She believes “the window is open for the South African economy to get in on things that will change the energy economy worldwide”.

The Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI) earlier this year launched a set of guidelines for assessing the transport carbon footprint in the European pulp and paper industry and to help the way in which pulp and paper businesses measure the share of their products’ carbon footprint, with transport being named a critical issue.

Against this background – and in the context of South Africa’s role in facing the dual challenges of climate change and dwindling global oil reserves – Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan issued a clear message in his Budget Speech that the government will introduce measures to force down the level of fossil-fuel consumption in South Africa.

He introduced measures that will tax only new passenger vehicles based on their certified CO2 emissions. Treasury plans to extend the emissions tax eventually to commercial vehicles, once agreed standards for CO2 emissions for these vehicles have been set. A key objective of the European Union’s 2001 White Paper on Transport was to shift freight transport away from roads and to rebalance it in favour of ‘greener’ transport modes such as rail, maritime shipping and inland waterways in order to reduce congestion.

In South Africa, too, some compelling arguments are being offered in favour of the shift to rail. According to a presentation at the Nepad Transport Summit, rail can move one metric tonne of freight for 176 kilometres on 1lt of fuel (diesel), the road transport equivalent being a mere 46 to 56km. At the same time, 3.8 times less carbon is produced. Add to that the reduction in road deaths, and cost of road infrastructure. The International Energy Agency says in a report entitled, “Transport, Energy and CO2: Moving Toward Sustainability”, which was released late last year, that while transport accounts for nearly a quarter of the world’s energy-related CO2 emissions, a mix of improved fuel efficiency, new technologies and stronger government policies will be required to prevent transport-related energy consumption and CO2 emissions from ballooning out of control between now and 2050.

The report says this is quite possible, and will be less expensive than many assume, despite the projected rapid growth in car ownership, trucking activity and air travel. But it will require a revolutionary shift to more efficient travel modes, an improvement in vehicle fuel efficiency of up to 50%, and development of electricity, hydrogen and advanced biofuels for transport. All of these, the report says, will require strong government policies.

Transport greening tips

Just what can the road transport sector do to reduce its carbon footprint? Apart from utilising all the new technology that is becoming available continuously, there are some simple, low-cost common-sense measures any transport company can employ. Some tips for the future:

• Plan transport routes, times and schedules better so as to avoid traffic congestion, peak-hour traffic, inner-city roads, traffic lights, right turns across oncoming traffic, slow roads and other obstacles that lengthen transport times and cause trucks to spend unnecessary time on the road and many hours idling in heavy traffic. Abundant digital and satellite mapping aids and software that logistics managers can use to re-engineer their fleet routing is freely available.

• Plan better and cut out wasted empty return trips. It is estimated that in Europe, with all its modern technology and systems, one in three trucks on the roads still is running empty. Securing loads for the return trip reduces unnecessary trips for trucks pumping out the bad fumes, while it also improves efficiency and profitability. This can be achieved through networking, e.g. freight-matching on the Internet.

• When companies replace trucks in their fleets, they should switch to new-generation low-emission trucks, preferably at a higher standard than even is required by law; and

• Transport and logistics companies and their clients should change their current transport models to reduce or do away with such things as just-in-time deliveries and demand for timely manufacturing, allowing for better integration of various transport options from an environmental impact point of view.

Other factors that may come into play for the transport sector if South Africa plays its required role in reducing overall carbon emissions include, among others:

• Stricter legislation that will set standards for the transport sector and, among other things, require upgrading to latest available technology systems and practices;

• Transnet improving turnaround capacity at its container terminals to reduce long truck queues and congestion;

• The South African National Roads Agency upgrading and improving roads to standards that will facilitate more fuel- and time-efficient road freight transportation;

• Border posts being upgraded to facilitate faster border crossings and cut out queues of idling trucks;

• South African fuel companies coming on board by producing cleaner petrol and diesel. MBSA president and CEO Dr Hansgeorg Niefer criticised the local fuel industry’s “inability to offer the latest environmentally friendly, fuel-efficiency technology in both passenger and commercial vehicles”;

• Transnet Freight Rail producing the long promised rehabilitation of South Africa’s rail network to allow more freight volumes to be shifted from road to rail. (With aircraft and trucks being the largest transport polluters, there is considerable pressure worldwide to move freight off the roads and to cleaner forms of transport such as rail. This will put much pressure on the road freight industry, as its slice of the transport cake will be reduced significantly.); and

• Creating centralised freight distribution and transport hubs that will step up efficiency, cut down on costs, time and other wastage contributing to a high transport carbon footprint.

Stef Terblanche

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