Objectives
This project will develop an emissions calculator for a product which is transported through the supply chain. The goals are:
- Quantify the amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per unit of product delivered at the destination of the supply chain, for example per kg of fruit or unit of equipment received. This include both the embedded emissions of the product itself, the emissions of the supply chain, and loss of product in the supply chain.
- Compare different supply chain options to see their emissions impact. For example,
- Is it better to ship produce by air or sea freight?
- Is it better to refrigerate it during shipping to reduce the spoilage?
- Is it better to compress CO2 captured during carbon capture and storage (CCS) during pipeline transport?
- Make it possible to compare different products at the destination through different supply chains. For example,
- Is it better to transport the recycled plastics to a facility that could make new bottles from them, or use them at a local recycling facility that turns them into lower value products. While the calculator does not include emissions from downstream usage, it could be used to calculate the emissions of different products through different supply chains at the destination to determine which option is better.
The calculator could be run as simulation for analysis and baselines or used to record actual activities to calculate real emissions. It will integrate the upstream emissions of the products with the emissions of the supply chain, such as transportation, storage, and processing, to enable a true comparison. The end result is the emission of the product plus its transportation and logistics divided by units of products delivered at destination.
Sample Supply Chains
Fruit and Produce: Fruit and produce is harvested at a farm, transported by truck, processed at a distributor facility, shipped by freight (air, truck, or rail) with refrigeration, and delivered to a grocery store or supermarket. Optionally we can consider storage at the grocery store or supermarket as an additional step in the supply chain to the final consumer.
Recycled Plastis: Recycled plastics is collected at residential homes, public places, beaches, etc. It is could then be transported and delivered to different types of facilities, which could then enhance it into different materials.
Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS): GHG emissions are captured at the point of burning natural gas, for example at a power plant, and transported via pipeline to underground storage. What's interesting here is that the product transported has very high GHG emissions content relative to the transport process itself.
Implementation
Hyperleger Fabric with multiple members from the supply chain.
The steps of the supply chain is simplified for emissions accounting purposes, recording:
- Supply chain ID - a unique identifier which identifies a particular product item or lot/batch through the supply chain. This could be used by a supply chain system to match against the particular item or lot/batch.
- Per unit embedded emissions of the product - This