 How You Can Reduce Carbon Emissions
Climate change is a significant issue, not only in terms of environmental degradation, but also with respect to business risk and opportunity. Solid waste haulers and other transportation providers are under a great deal of pressure to demonstrate their commitment to sustainable practices. It is no longer acceptable to simply say you have a sustainability strategy in
place. Increasingly, large businesses and government are not only requiring service providers and other suppliers to have a sustainability plan in place, but to demonstrate their relative success in the implementation and ongoing management of such a plan. The tools that Routeware provides through the use of the DMS 5000™ and Routeware BackOffice are uniquely consistent with this trend.
The “carbon footprint” is defined as the total amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases (GHG’s) emitted over a set time horizon, or the lifecycle of a product or service, and is typically expressed in metric tons. From a scientific standpoint, carbon dioxide emissions are almost exclusively associated with the conversion of energy carriers such as natural gas or crude oil. The carbon content released during the energy conversion process reaches the atmosphere and is deemed to be responsible for the global warming process (e.g. climate change). Large cargo carrying vehicles, particularly those that are routed on a daily basis, are among the heaviest generators of carbon emissions. The move toward bio-diesel as a fuel additive addresses the degree and magnitude of the carbon emissions released, and clearly has a positive impact toward lowering the total number of metric tons generated, if used properly. However, it does not address all of the factors used in calculating the carbon footprint, namely the number of miles actually traveled by a routed vehicle. If the operator of a
vehicle can reduce the number of miles traveled, increase fuel efficiency AND burn cleaner fuel the impact in terms of reducing that company’s carbon footprint can be significant.
Routeware provides technology capable of increasing operational efficiencies and ultimately reducing carbon emissions. Routeware can reduce vehicle miles traveled and idling by helping to tighten routes, eliminate unnecessary stops, monitor driver behavior and identify optimum traffic patterns. This translates into a reduction in the consumption of fuel, and with it, a reduction in the amount of fuel burned and carbon released into the atmosphere. Since Routeware is able to identify the most efficient routes, it can also have a positive impact on the average miles per gallon realized when operating a vehicle. All of this data is tied to the calculation of the “carbon footprint”, both for purposes of establishing a benchmark (before Routeware) and to measure improvement over time (once Routeware is operational).
The example below shows how Routeware can be the catalyst toward optimizing vehicle routing and reducing carbon emissions:
[Average annual number of miles traveled/Miles per gallon
X 19.36]/2205 = Annual metric tons
Before Routeware: If a solid waste hauler drove an average of 15,000 miles per year and achieved an MPG of 8, that vehicle’s annual carbon output would be approximately 16 metric tons.
After Routeware: If the same solid waste hauler reduced the average miles driven by 10% and marginally increased MPG by using Routeware, and switched to a B20 fuel (biodiesel at 20% by volume), that vehicle could reduce its annual carbon output by as much nearly 40%.
The value of reducing the carbon footprint also accrues to the owner of the vehicle(s) in the form of reduced vehicle cost, including maintenance (preventative and lifecycle cost), fuel consumption and labor related costs in the form of reduced wage and benefit costs (since the now more efficient routes would be completed in fewer overall hours) and a reduction in the amount of exposure from a general safety and worker’s compensation standpoint.
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