May 2013 Environmental Help Desk for Transportation and Warehousing Industries Joseph Chou, Taylor Gelsinger, Yilian Xie, Yuan Yuan Dr. Emily Klein, Advisor Masters project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Environmental Management degree in the Nicholas School of the Environment of Duke University.
Microsoft Word - Final Draft with Edits.docxMay 2013
Environmental Help Desk for Transportation
and Warehousing Industries Joseph
Chou, Taylor Gelsinger, Yilian Xie,
Yuan Yuan Dr. Emily Klein,
Advisor Masters project
submitted in partial fulfillment of
the requirements for the Master
of Environmental Management degree
in the Nicholas School of the
Environment of Duke University.
2
Abstract
Companies today face a variety of
challenges and opportunities when
considering
investing in the environmental
sustainability of their businesses.
While many large
companies have dedicated sustainability
staff, small and medium sized
businesses typically
do not have the resources to
research affordable environmental
investments and
behavioral changes. To address this
need, Green Plus has developed
the online
Environmental Help Desk with the
Green Supply Chain Information tool.
Companies may use
this information to guide their
decisions by learning what the
industry leaders are doing,
the major issues in their field,
the resources available, applicable
regulations and
certifications, the costs and benefits
of various practices, and the
possible sequence of
stages to make progress in
sustainability.
The focus of this master’s project
is to develop the Green Supply
Chain Information
for the transportation and warehousing
industries. In conducting research
into the air,
train, truck, water vessel and
warehousing sectors, Duke University
databases, industry
leaders’ annual reports, and interviews
with Green Plus members and
Duke alumni were
used. The information and data
gathered was then analyzed to
develop recommendations
for the steps that companies can
take towards sustainability. In
addition, a cost-benefit
analysis of the monetary investment,
payback period, and greenhouse gas
(GHG) emission
savings was conducted for the
suggested investments in technology
and behavioral
changes of the transportation industry.
We found each industry can make
a variety of behavioral changes,
technological
investments, and infrastructure improvements
to reduce the negative environmental
impacts of their company, while still
seeing a quick return on
investment. By starting out
with the more simple steps suggested
and moving forward, small to
medium sized
companies may become more sustainable
and work towards the advanced
sustainability
level of industry leaders.
1 INTRODUCTION
.................................................................................................................................
5
2 METHODS
.........................................................................................................................................
7 2.1 AIR TRANSPORTATION
............................................................................................................................
7 2.2 TRAIN TRANSPORTATION
.........................................................................................................................
8 2.3 WATER VESSEL TRANSPORTATION
............................................................................................................
9 2.4 TRUCK TRANSPORTATION
........................................................................................................................
9 2.5 WAREHOUSING
...................................................................................................................................
10
3 RESULTS
..........................................................................................................................................
12 3.1 AIR TRANSPORTATION
..........................................................................................................................
12
3.1.1 Major Issues
.............................................................................................................................
12 3.1.2 Major Players
...........................................................................................................................
12 3.1.3 Key Requirements &
Certifications
...........................................................................................
13 3.1.4 Sustainability Practices
............................................................................................................
13 3.1.5 Cost Benefit Analysis
................................................................................................................
18
3.2 TRAIN TRANSPORTATION
.......................................................................................................................
20 3.2.1 Major Issues
.............................................................................................................................
21 3.2.2 Major Players
...........................................................................................................................
21 3.2.3 Key Awards and
Certifications
..................................................................................................
22 3.2.4 Sustainability Practices
............................................................................................................
23 3.2.5 Cost Benefit Analysis
................................................................................................................
25
3.3 WATER VESSEL TRANSPORTATION
..........................................................................................................
27 3.3.1 Major Issues
.............................................................................................................................
27 3.3.2 Major Players
...........................................................................................................................
28 3.3.3 Key Regulations and
Certifications
...........................................................................................
28 3.3.4 Sustainability Practices
............................................................................................................
31 3.3.5 Cost Benefit Analysis
................................................................................................................
34
3.4 TRUCK TRANSPORTATION
......................................................................................................................
38 3.4.1 Major Issues
.............................................................................................................................
38 3.4.2 Major Players
...........................................................................................................................
38 3.4.3 Requirements &
Certifications
.................................................................................................
39 3.4.4 Sustainability Practices
............................................................................................................
39 3.4.5 Cost Benefit Analysis
................................................................................................................
42
3.5 WAREHOUSING
...................................................................................................................................
45 3.5.1 Major Issues
.............................................................................................................................
45 3.5.2 Major Players
...........................................................................................................................
46 3.5.3 Key Certifications
......................................................................................................................
46 3.5.4 Sustainability Practices
............................................................................................................
47
4 DISCUSSION
....................................................................................................................................
49 4.1 AIR TRANSPORTATION
..........................................................................................................................
49
4.1.1 Getting-started Steps
...............................................................................................................
49
4
4.1.2 Going-further Steps
..................................................................................................................
50 4.1.3 Advanced Steps
........................................................................................................................
50 4.1.4 Summary
..................................................................................................................................
52
4.2 TRAIN TRANSPORTATION
.......................................................................................................................
52 4.2.1 Getting-started Steps
...............................................................................................................
53 4.2.2 Going-further Steps
..................................................................................................................
53 4.2.3 Advanced Steps
........................................................................................................................
54 4.2.4 Summary
..................................................................................................................................
54
4.3 WATER VESSEL TRANSPORTATION
..........................................................................................................
55 4.3.1 Getting-started Steps
...............................................................................................................
55 4.3.2 Going-further Steps
..................................................................................................................
56 4.3.3 Advanced Steps
........................................................................................................................
56 4.3.4 Summary
..................................................................................................................................
57
4.4 TRUCK TRANSPORTATION
......................................................................................................................
57 4.4.1 Getting-started Steps
...............................................................................................................
58 4.4.2 Going-further Steps
..................................................................................................................
58 4.4.3 Advanced Steps
........................................................................................................................
59 4.4.4 Summary
..................................................................................................................................
59
4.5 WAREHOUSING
...................................................................................................................................
60 4.5.1 Getting-started Steps
...............................................................................................................
60 4.5.2 Going-further Steps
..................................................................................................................
61 4.5.3 Advanced Steps
........................................................................................................................
62 4.5.4 Summary
..................................................................................................................................
62
5 CONCLUSION
...................................................................................................................................
64
6 LITERATURE CITATION
.....................................................................................................................
65
Small and medium sized businesses
seeking to implement more
environmentally
sustainable practices do not have the
same buying power or resources
as those of large
companies. Green Plus, a Durham-based
nonprofit organization, is developing
an online
Environmental Help Desk that enables
smaller enterprises with lower
budgets obtain high-
quality information with regard to
sustainable practices.
About Green Plus Green Plus is a
9-year-old program that provides
practical, affordable, triple-
bottom-line sustainability expertise.
Developed by the Institute for
Sustainable
Development, Green Plus also provides
education, networking and green
recognition.
Education consists of web-based tools,
student training, and connecting
industry sector
peers from different regions. Green
Plus is acknowledged as a
university supported, third-
party certification program. In some
states, the Institute for Sustainable
Development
offers financial support for energy
audits through scholarships or micro
loans. For
example, Green Plus works in
partnership with the Council of
Small Enterprises in Ohio and
the North Carolina Rural Economic
Development Center in North Carolina.
Green Plus
educates, inspires, and recognizes smaller
companies for their efforts towards
becoming
more sustainable. Since its founding,
Green Plus has been providing
solid, tangible,
pragmatic advise and expertise in
sustainability (Green Plus, 2013).
About the Environmental Help Desk As part of
Green Plus’s offerings, the
Environmental Help Desk assists
businesses to
understand green development requirements,
thus identifying and undertaking
cost-
effective sustainable changes. The Help
Desk developed as a collaborative
effort between
the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s
Business Civic Leadership Center and
the Institute for
Sustainable Development’s Green Plus
Program. The Help Desk provides
information and
resources regarding best environmental
practices, innovative ideas,
certifications,
6
environmental standards, and steps for
businesses to be more sustainable
while reducing
operation costs (Green Plus, 2013).
To assist Green Plus with the
Help Desk, our team conducted
research in the
transportation and warehousing industries;
interviewed experienced professionals;
collected information on successful
sustainability practices adopted by
peer companies;
and evaluated such practices with a
cost benefit analysis. The
transportation industry was
divided into four sectors: air
transportation, train transportation, water
vessel
transportation, and truck transportation,
undertaken by Yilin Xie, Joseph
Chou, Yuan Yuan,
and Taylor Gelsinger, respectively.
We believe this report will be
an informative and supportive
resource to help
motivated transportation and warehousing
companies learn of cost-effective
sustainable
development. In this report, we
identify win-win situations to
achieve the reductions in
both greenhouse gas emissions and
fuel consumption. Additionally, business
concepts such
as initial cost and payback period
have been incorporated in our
discussion to better serve
decision-making within of transportation
and warehousing companies.
Our overall data collection approach
involved literature reviews and
interviews
with industry professionals. Additional
data collection approaches were
adopted when
needed for specific sectors.
Much of the relevant literature is
on-line, including, but not limited
to, journal
articles, websites of relevant government
or non-government organizations, websites
and
annual reports of industry leaders,
and Duke University databases. This
body of literature
provided us with preliminary understanding
and original data of the
capital costs and
financial/environmental benefits of implementing
selected sustainability initiatives.
Delving deeper and adopting logical
assumptions, we were able to
perform a cost-benefit
analyses with respect to researched
sustainability practices and therefore
propose
customized suggestions to businesses that
would like to pursue sustainable
transportation
and/or warehousing.
In addition, using Duke University
alumni and Green Plus members
and their
referrals, we identified and conducted
interviews with six industry
professionals covering
each of the researched topics: air
transportation, water shipping, rail,
trucking, and
warehousing. By detailing their sustainable
strategies and programs, political
and/or
economic incentives, and relevant
certificates, the interviewees assisted
us in identifying
ways to achieve sustainability in
practice. The information from
interviews provided an
understanding of the most up-to-date
sustainability initiatives, which would
otherwise not
be available from literature reviews.
In the following sections each
of the five topics will
describe its specific methodology and
resources.
2.1 Air Transportation Research focusing on
air transportation was performed as
follows. First, relevant
news, comments and industrial reports
published by federal government and
influential
aviation coalitions were reviewed to
identify the major issues, major
players, and essential
certificates/standards. Influential organizations
included the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA), International Air
Transport Association (IATA), Sustainable
Aviation
8
Fuel Users Group (SAFUG), the
Sustainable Aviation Guidance Alliance
(SAGA), Sustainable
Aviation Fuels Northwest (SAFN), and
the American Society for Testing
and Materials
(ASTM).
Second, annual reports, posted on
major players’ websites, were studied
to
understand prevalent sustainability practices
in the aviation sector, as well
as their
financial costs and environmental benefits.
Additionally, some websites and
forums, such
as Bloomberg, Airliners, and Wikipedia,
occasionally provided information or
references
with regard to the costs and
benefits. Further more, Ms. Julie
Wilsey, Deputy Airport
Director of the Wilmington, NC
Airport and Green Plus member
disclosed her views on how
sustainability could be implemented in
a local airport. Together, these
sources provided an
overall picture of the current
situation of sustainable air
transportation.
Lastly, a cost-benefit analysis was
conducted based on collected
information, to gain
a deeper understanding with regard to
the cost-effectiveness of prevalent
sustainability
practices. Based on evaluations from
the cost benefit analysis, businesses
in the air
transportation sector at various stages
of sustainable progress would receive
valuable
suggestions to assist them in
achieving profitable sustainability.
2.2 Train Transportation A variety
of methods were employed to
garner information about sustainability
practices in the freight rail
industry. For instance, interviews
with Megan Garry, Norfolk
Southern’s Corporate Sustainability Manager,
and Meaghan Atkinson, CSX’s
Environmental
Programs and Sustainability Manager, were
both invaluable in providing unique
perspectives into the rail industry.
They detailed how their companies
are working to
improve their role as environmental
stewards. A few leading companies
put out extensive
sustainability reports describing their
sustainability efforts to reduce
negative
environmental impact. Norfolk Southern,
CSX, and Union Pacific stood
out in particular.
Public institutional resources included
Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA)
SmartWay, Association of American Railroads
(AAR), Federal Railroad Administration
(FRA), and European Union (EU).
Several transportation focused magazines
and news
sources also contributed significantly to
research findings, including Inbound
Logistics,
Trains, and Railway Age.
9
The cost-benefit analysis conducted
compares the initial capital costs
versus
greenhouse gas emissions reduction, the
financial cost savings, and decline
in fuel
consumption. Where reliable data were
unavailable, calculated estimates were
found using
averages on locomotive operating lifespan,
locomotive fuel efficiency, vehicle
miles
traveled, and greenhouse gas intensity
of diesel fuel.
2.3 Water Vessel Transportation The
materials and information sources
researched in the vessel shipping
industry
include academic publications, sustainable
business websites, and interviews
with shipping
industry professionals. More specific
information on the pertinent rules,
standards and
guidelines was obtained through policy
papers and government documents,
provided by
the US Environmental Protection Agency
and European Union reports.
Non-government
reports from the Environmental Defense
Fund and Business for Social
Responsibility were
also reviewed. Moreover, sustainability
reports and plans established by
green business
pursuers, accessed through their official
websites, furthered our understanding
of the real-
world practices and enabled us to
outline optimal paths for a
motivated company to go
toward sustainability.
Practical sustainability practices have
been categorized based on their
costs,
benefits and payback periods. Furthermore,
the research in vessel shipping
industry
benefitted from the information provided
by Duke alumni, Domenic Carlucci,
who is
working for the American Shipping
Bureau. He shared his insights
regarding business
strategies, green programs, policy and
financial incentives, and relevant
certifications. This
allowed us to integrate first-hand
experiences, achievements and previous
attempts in the
vessel shipping industry into our
research.
Summaries of information, cost-benefit
analyses, and data visualization,
were used
to organize and structure our
findings. The cost-benefit analysis
and evaluation of current
green technologies and practices will
bring businesses in the water
vessel transportation
sector a clearer understanding of
feasible practices and the benefits
to be gained.
2.4 Truck Transportation
interviews with trucking professionals,
Duke University databases, industry
leaders’
annual reports, the EPA SmartWay
website, and technology websites. The
information
found was then converted into an
overview document for Green Plus.
Data was transferred
into a spreadsheet to conduct a
cost-benefit analysis of the
technology investments and
behavioral changes available in the
trucking industry. All data was
normalized to extract
how many gallons of diesel were
saved per year, CO2e savings
per year, investment cost,
and cost savings per year in
use.
The initial literature review and
interview with Joe Monfort,
Sustainability
Communications at UPS, directed the
trucking research. This
information-gathering phase
revealed the importance of data
collection and the need to
determine increasing levels in
effort and investment that small-medium
sized trucking companies can make
(Monfort,
2012). This research also identified
environmental issues surrounding fuel
efficiency to be
the main cause of negative
environmental impacts, particularly
greenhouse gas emissions
(American Trucking Association).
Industry leaders’ websites and annual
reports provided information regarding
the
investment in technology being made
to increase their fleet fuel
efficiency. Industry leaders
researched include: J.B. Hunt, UPS,
Nussbaum, U-Haul, FedEx, DHL,
C&K Trucking, and Con-
Way. After a review of technology
changes companies are investing in,
measures were
selected to determine the initial
cost and the benefit received
from reductions in fuel use.
A cost-benefit analysis was created
through assessing the initial
investment needed,
diesel fuel use reduction, savings
associated with reduced use of
diesel fuel, greenhouse gas
emissions saved, and time needed to
see a positive financial return
on investment. This
helped to better determine which
changes and investments would be
practical for a small-
to-medium size trucking company. A
cost-benefit analysis was not
conducted for all
measures suggested. Some limiting factors
include lack of reliable data
or an environmental
indicator, such as water pollution,
not associated with a change in
greenhouse gas
emissions.
11
Several sources were explored to
collect data on green warehousing
and logistics
practices. Some government and nonprofit
resources supplied knowledge concerning
warehousing and logistics management, such
as EPA’s SmartWay, Warehousing
Education
and Research Council, and Department
of Energy’s Energy Star. A
number of warehousing
and logistics-related literature sources
also provided valuable information,
such as
Inbound Logistics, Modern Materials
Handling, Supply Chain Brain, and
Environmental
Leader. Lastly, an interview with
Chris Bingham at Riley Life
Logistics gave insight into
what it was like to operate a
small, certified Benefit Corporation
or B-corps in logistics
management. B-corps are certified after
fulfilling strict social and
environmental criteria.
12
3 Results
For the transportation and warehousing
industries, there are a variety
of
investments available to replace outdated
fleets, utilize resources more
efficiently, change
behaviors, and support future innovation.
All of these investments lead
to a reduction in
environmental impacts, as revealed in
lower GHG emissions, increased
recycling rates,
reduced water contamination, reduced fuel
consumption, reduced volatile organic
compound (VOC) emissions, and overall
reduced materials consumption. The
following
sections provide detailed information
regarding monetary investments, CO2e
savings, and
payback periods by industry.
3.1 Air Transportation
3.1.1 Major Issues
Currently, the largest environmental issue
facing the aviation sector comes
from the
huge amounts of energy used for
the regular operation of the
air fleet and airports. Other
major environmental issues include high
noise level at and near
airports during aircraft
takeoff and landing, the emissions of
VOCs and GHGs other than CO2,
such as NOx, during
the flights.
3.1.2 Major Players
The aviation sector can be divided
into passenger travel and cargo
transport, both of
which should be considered in
identifying major players in this
sector. International
airlines, mainly Chinese airlines, were
excluded despite their large
participation in the US
aviation market. This is due to
different economic development, technical
development,
and environmental concerns, which often
lead to varying sustainability
practices between
international and US airlines. Through
synthesizing the data relevant to
the number of
enplaned passengers and the cargo
tonnages, FedEx, UPS, Delta Airlines,
United Airlines,
and American Airlines were chosen as
the major players in US
aviation sector (Wikipedia,
2013) (Air Cargo World, 2011).
13
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
provides a series of environmental
regulations for airplane and airport
operations. These regulations cover
issues ranging
from water and air quality to
socio-economic factors (FAA, 2012).
One issue that frequently
receives a great deal of attention
is noise compatibility planning,
which provides
suggestions for airports to comply
with FAA noise regulations. Another
issue regards
reducing ground-level emissions, facilitated
through the Voluntary Airport Low
Emissions
Program (VALE) (FAA, 2012) (FAA,
2013).
B. Certifications The International Civil
Aviation Organization (ICAO) provides
standards and
certifications with respect to aircraft
noise and aircraft engine emission
(ICAO, 2013). In
addition, U.S. Green Building Council
(USGBC) provides the Leadership in
Energy and
Environmental Design (LEED) Certification
to assess and rate the
sustainability of
buildings, including airports. For example,
United Airlines’s, headquarters in
downtown
Chicago, has been approved for LEED
certification due to the use of
automated lighting and
energy-efficient mechanical systems (United
Airlines, 2011).
3.1.4 Sustainability Practices
The sustainability practices currently
adopted by major players in air
transportation
are classified into four major
categories: enhancing fuel economy,
developing alternative
aviation fuels, promoting recycling, and
supporting carbon neutral programs.
Enhancing
fuel economy is further divided into:
replacing aircraft fleet, adopting
energy-efficient
technologies, and behavior changes. The
following provide detailed information
for each of
these categories.
A. Enhance Fuel Economy a) Aircraft Fleet Replacement
In recent years, The Boeing Company
has devoted efforts to develop
a more energy-
efficient aircraft. For example, it
is estimated the newest generation
of Boeing aircraft, the
Boeing 787, uses 20 percent less
fuel than other airplanes of
similar size (The Boeing
14
Company, 2013). Therefore, replacing old
aircrafts with newer models can
significantly
increase the average energy efficiency
of a company’s whole aircraft
fleet. Table 1 shows
recent examples among the major
players in renewing their aircraft
fleet since 2005.
Table 1 Major Players’ Introduction of More Efficient
Aircraft Since 2005
Major Player Introduced Replaced Reference FedEx Boeing 757s Boeing
727s (FedEx, 2011) FedEx Boeing 777F MD-11F (FedEx, 2011) FedEx
Boeing 767 / (FedEx, 2011) UPS Airbus 300-600 / (UPS, 2013) UPS
Boeing 747-400 Boeing 747-200 (UPS, 2013)
United Airlines Boeing 787-9 / (United Airlines, 2011) Delta
Airlines 737-900ER / (Delta Airlines, 2012)
American Airlines Airbus 320 / (American Airlines, 2013)
American Airlines Boeing 737-800 MD-80 (American Airlines,
2013)
Note: / in Replaced column means no airplanes were replaced.
b) Adoption of Energy-efficient Technologies
We consider separately adopting
energy-efficient technologies related to
airports
from those related to aircraft. The
former enhances an airport’s overall
energy efficiency by
introducing advanced management systems and
efficient equipment. The latter
improves
the energy performance of an aircraft
during a flight by reducing
aircraft weight or drag
and adopting optimal flight routes.
Airport energy-efficient technologies include
electric ground support equipment
(eGSE), air traffic management (ATM)
and surface management system (SMS).
The aircraft
energy-efficient technologies include Lufthansa
System’s LIDO Flight Planning System,
winglet, continuous descent arrival (CDA),
carbon brake, The Boeing Company’s
777
Performance Improvement Package (PIP), and
PreKote environmental friendly paint.
The eGSE contributes to reducing GHG
emission by replacing internal
combustion
engine models with electric models.
Both ATM and SMS can help
airports manage flight
schedules more efficiently. The detailed
description of airport energy-efficient
technologies
is presented in Appendix Table A1.
15
The LIDO Flight Planning System shows
the most efficient flight routes
for an
aircraft, thus reducing its jet fuel
consumption. Winglets enhance the
fuel economy of an
aircraft by adding wingtip extensions
to aircraft wings, reducing drag.
CDA enables
aircrafts to use idle power and
descend at a constant 3-degree
angle, rather than traditional
step-down descending, thus reducing noise
and jet fuel consumption. Carbon
brakes help
to reduce aircraft weight by up
to 976 pounds, compared to
steel brakes. The 777 PIP
enhances the fuel economy of older
Boeing 777 models by introducing
improved aircraft
equipment. The PreKote environmental
friendly paint reduces aircraft
weight and
hazardous chemical emissions attributed to
painting through adopting a
specialized
pretreatment called “PreKote”. Detailed
descriptions and references of
aircraft energy-
efficient technologies are provided in
Appendix Table A2.
c) Behavioral Changes
Behavioral changes can also produce
significant savings in fuel
consumption.
Washing engines frequently can reduce
aircraft engine drag. Reducing
auxiliary power
usage, by relying on available ground
power and pre-cooled air equipment,
helps to reduce
jet fuel consumption. Using iPads for
the pilot’s flight manual and
passenger’s
entertainment system has been implemented
on international flights to reduce
aircraft
weight. Using one engine during the
ground taxiing or tugging an
aircraft with a ground
vehicle contributes to savings in jet
fuel consumption during ground
movement. Adopting
the contraflow approach allows aircrafts
to fly over less populated
urban areas, reducing
the overall noise level. Reducing
aircraft speed to extend domestic
flights by 2-11 minutes
per trip can reduce some jet
fuel consumption. Adopting polar
routes for international
flights directly reduces flight distance
and results in jet fuel
savings. Using a polycarbonate
air cargo container or installing an
internal floating roof can reduce
air pollution. Detailed
descriptions and references of behavioral
changes are provided in Appendix
Table A3.
B. Alternative Aviation Fuels With the increasing
price of jet fuels, such as
jet A, jet A-1, and jet
B, research into
alternative aviation fuels is increasing.
Developing alternative aviation fuels
results in both
economic and environmental benefits.
Alternative aviation fuels, if
successfully
commercialized, can substantially reduce
the dependence on conventional jet
fuels and
16
thus mitigate the effects of price
fluctuations of conventional jet
fuels. In addition, the life-
cycle GHG emissions attributed to
alternative aviation fuels are
significantly less than their
conventional counterparts, contributing to
climate change mitigation.
Due to these benefits, a number
of businesses have undertaken
research,
development, and testing of alternative
aviation fuels. For example, United
Airlines is
collaborating with various companies,
including Solazyme, Solena, Alt Air,
Gevo and
Rentech, to produce and evaluate
aviation biodiesels from multiple
feedstocks. These
feedstocks include algae, recycled
agricultural waste, urban waste,
camelina oil. In 2011,
United Airlines conducted test flights
of alternative aviation fuel, using
a mixture of 40
percent biodiesel and 60 percent
conventional fuel (United Airlines,
2011). Likewise,
American Airlines has signed with
Solena Fuels, a leading bioenergy
company, to promote
the commercial use of alternative
aviation fuels at airports located
in the San Francisco Bay
Area. Such fuels are derived from
blending Solena biodiesel, generated
from recycled
agricultural and urban waste, with
conventional jet fuel. (American
Airlines, 2013).
However, despite significant investments in
developing alternative aviation fuels,
the International Energy Agency estimates
that the deployment of aviation
biodiesel will
require 5-10 years of additional
work (International Energy Agency,
2009). In addition, the
commercialization of alternative aviation
fuels requires not only sufficiently
competitive
price levels, but other considerations
as well. These include
adjustments of current engine
systems or even new engine designs,
and the establishment of new or
modified distribution
and refueling systems.
While alternative aviation fuels require
continued development, biodiesel can
be
used in ground equipment at the
airport to effectively save
conventional fuel consumption
and reduce total GHG emissions. For
example, UPS has decided to
purchase specialized
fueling vehicles, fuel storage tanks,
and computer systems to utilize
a 5 percent blend of
biodiesel fuel for 366 ground
vehicles at its Worldport Air
Hub at Louisville International
Airport (UPS, 2013).
C. Promote Recycling For aviation businesses,
recycling can be promoted through
enhancing airport
recycling and inflight recycling, as
well as increasing the recycled
percentage of paper
17
products. Airport recycling seeks to
minimize waste generated through
various activities in
an airport, especially for mixed
paper, aluminum, plastic bottles,
oil, paint, pallets, plastic
sheeting, cardboard, scrap metal and
cooking oil (United Airlines, 2011).
Aside from the
application of mobile/electronic boarding
passes to achieve paperless boarding,
airport
recycling greatly relies on labor.
Inflight recycling involves collecting
aluminum cans, plastic beverage cups,
plastic
bottles, newspapers, magazines, and
sometimes aircraft carpet. A large
number of airlines
have launched their inflight recycling
programs, obtaining significant benefits
in materials
saving. For example, United Airline
has successfully recycled more than
three million
pounds of cans and plastic items,
generated in-flight, during the last
five years (United
Airlines, 2011). In most cases, the
carting off of sorted recycled
materials is freely provided,
making initial collection labor the
main cost to improve the both
airport and inflight
recycling.
Identifying reliable sources of recycled
paper and increasing the percentages
of
recycled paper products also contributes
to significant savings in trees,
landfill waste and
CO2 emissions. For example, in 2010
American Airlines switched to 100
percent recycled
paper for its Latitudes inflight
magazine, without increasing the
weight of the magazine
(American Airlines, 2011). This
sustainability initiative has been
used more frequently in
freight packages, bringing the benefits
of not only paper usage
reduction, but also
considerable net energy savings. For
example, UPS has seen a
12percent reduction in
energy use by recycling used
packages, compared to manufacturing
new packages. UPS also
reports that most of its envelopes
and boxes contain at least 80
percent and 30 percent
post-consumer recycled content (UPS,
2013). Likewise, FedEx indicates that
currently most of its envelopes
and boxes/packages consist of 100
percent and at least 40 percent
recycled
content, respectively (FedEx, 2011).
D. Support Carbon Neutral Programs To date, there
have been several successful cases
where some aviation corporations
effectively collaborate with environmental
organizations to neutralize their GHG
footprint
through investing in GHG sequestration
projects. For example, Delta Airlines
has made
donations and offered passengers the
option to purchase carbon offsets.
Through these
18
efforts, Delta has raised $1 million
for The Nature Conservancy’s Tensas
River Basin Project,
to conserve the Lower Mississippi
River Valley (The Nature Conservancy,
2012). Likewise,
FedEx offsets its GHG footprint by
investing in projects in BP’s
Target Neutral program,
such as recovering the degraded
grassland in Tanzania’s Southern
Highlands district
(FedEx, 2013).
3.1.5 Cost Benefit Analysis
The costs and benefits of some
researched sustainability practices can
be quantified
by reviewing relevant case studies.
Unfortunately, due to the lack
of reliable information,
the cost and benefits of some
measures cannot be quantified; these
include some of the
behavior changes, developing alternative
aviation fuels, promoting recycling,
and
supporting carbon neutral programs. As
a result, qualitative estimations are
provided in
these cases. The detailed quantitative
data or qualitative estimations are
presented in
Appendix Table A4. Figures 1-3 show
the characteristics of the costs
and benefits of the
sustainability practices.
Figure 1 Cost Benefit Analysis for Aviation Sustainability
Practices
Figure 1: Cost vs. payback
period of each sustainability
practice; size of the dot
indicates
potential to reduce GHG emission
(ranging from 34 to 36,319
metric ton CO2 equivalent per
year)
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0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Pa yb
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Pe ri
ground support equipment and surface
manage system warrant particular
attention. As
shown in Figure 1, these have
large costs, long payback periods,
and considerable potential
of GHG emission reduction. In
contrast, clustered at the
bottom-left corner in Figure 1,
other sustainability practices, including
aircraft energy-efficient technologies and
behavior
changes, require substantially less initial
investments and can achieve short
payback
periods. Limiting the cost and
payback period to $5 million
and 5 years respectively, the
clustered region is enlarged in
Figure 2.
Figure 2 Cost Benefit Analysis for Practices with Cost <
$5 million and Payback Period < 5 Years
Figure 2: Cost vs. payback
period of each sustainability
practice; size of the dot
indicates
potential to reduce GHG emission
(ranging from 34 to 4,627
metric ton CO2 equivalent per
year)
Figure 2 shows four aircraft
energy-efficient technologies and one
behavior change:
LIDO flight planning system, winglets,
Boeing 777 Performance Improvement
Package,
carbon brakes, and iPad flight manual
and entertainment system. However,
there are still
-0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
Pa yb
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20
some practices clustering at the
bottom-left corner in Figure 2.
If the cost and payback
period are limited to $0.5 million
and 1 year respectively, this
clustered region is enlarged
to obtain Figure 3.
Figure 3 Cost Benefit Analysis for Practices with Cost <
$0.5 million and Payback Period < 1 Year
Figure 3: Cost vs. payback
period of each sustainability
practice; size of the dot
indicates
potential to reduce GHG emission
(ranging from 34 to 371 metric
ton CO2 equivalent per year)
Except for the iPad flight manual
and entertainment system, Figure 3
shows the
remaining one aircraft energy-efficient
technology and the three behavior
changes:
PreKote environmental friendly paint, one
engine taxiing, frequent engine
washing, and
reduced auxiliary power unit usage.
Compared to their counterparts, the
practices
displayed in Figure 3 have extremely
small investment requirements and
quick payback
periods, but their GHG savings are
also limited, up to 371 metric
ton CO2 equivalent per
year. Specifically, one engine taxiing
has no cost, thus its payback
period equals to 0.
3.2 Train Transportation
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0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
-0.02 0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2
Pa yb
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3.2.1 Major Issues
Today, the freight rail system moves
the equivalent of 40 tons of
cargo for each
person in the United States, a
number that is predicted to
rise 35 percent by the year
2050
(FRA, 2010). Freight rail companies
and passenger rail companies work
cooperatively to
ensure the safe and reliable
transport of both goods and
people across their railroads. In
fact, about 97 percent of Amtrak’s
operating railroads are owned and
maintained by freight
rail companies (AAR, 2012). This
makes partnerships between freight
and passenger rail
companies vital to the success of
both groups. Bulk goods, such
as grain and coal, are
shipped in rail cars while consumer
goods are handled via intermodal
containers. Freight
rail shipping provides environmental
benefits such as reductions in
fuel consumption, air
pollution, road congestion, highway
fatalities, public infrastructure and
logistics costs (FRA,
2012).
While rail is on average four
times more fuel efficient than
trucks, it still consumes a
great deal of diesel fuel, which
is affected by stopping behavior,
speed, and weight. Further,
rail can disrupt local ecosystems
because its infrastructure may
destroy habitat, kill
animals crossing the tracks, and
hinder migration patterns. Trains
also produce high levels
of noise, which can be stressful
and damaging to the well-being
of both people and wildlife.
3.2.2 Major Players Table 2 Class 1 Railroad Companies
Rank Company Website Headquarters Railroad (miles)
1 Union Pacific www.up.com Omaha, NE 32,000 2 Burlington Northern
& Santa Fe www.bnsf.com Fort Worth, TX 32,000 3 CSX www.csx.com
Jacksonville, FL 22,000 4 Norfolk Southern www.nscorp.com Norfolk,
VA 21,200 5 Canadian National www.cn.ca Montreal, Quebec 19,200 6
Canadian Pacific www.cpr.ca Calgary, Alberta 13,600 7 Kansas City
Southern www.kcsouthern.com Kansas City, MO 3,100
(Hattem, 2006, June 1)
Class 1 railroad companies operate 70
percent of total railroad track
miles in the
U.S. and are defined as generating
revenues of $289.4 million or
more annually (Hattem,
22
2006, June 1). Today, trains
transport about 40 percent of
all US freight, measured in
ton-
miles, across a 140,000 mile rail
network (FRA, 2012).
3.2.3 Key Awards and Certifications
A. Awards The Association of American
Railroads presents the John H.
Chafee Environmental
Excellence Award to railroad employees.
This acknowledges an individual
railroad
employee who has displayed extraordinary
environmental performance through their
actions in environmental awareness and
responsibility (AAR, 2012).
The Brunel Awards seeks to encourage
environmental railway design as part
of its
competition. They are endorsed by the
Watford Group of International
Railway Designers,
an association of railway professionals
throughout Asia, Europe, and the
Americas
(Vantuono, 2012, August 20). The
competition takes place every three
years, and the
responsibility of hosting the competition
is shared among member nations.
The EPA has a Transportation
Efficiency Innovations Award as part
of its Clean Air
Excellence Awards. The award pertains
to projects that work on
improving transportation
system efficiency and air pollution.
Several program criteria include
vehicle trips, reduced
miles traveled, improved travel
convenience, and reduced travel time
(EPA, 2011, June 8).
B. Certifications The Leadership in Energy
and Environmental Design (LEED) green
building
certification program promotes the use
of sustainable building and
development. LEED
helps support and provide data for
other sustainability initiatives; increase
worker
productivity; and yield cost savings
on energy, waste disposal, water,
and operations and
maintenance (Terry, 2011, January).
Similarly, the Energy Star program
allows businesses
to become an Energy Star Leader
for demonstrating certain levels of
portfolio-side energy
efficiency improvements (D. EPA, 2013).
Rail companies can become SmartWay
Transport Logistics Partners to
improve
their bottom line and increase
customer satisfaction. Partners do so
by using SmartWay to
evaluate their environmental performance
and improve supply chain
efficiencies. As a
SmartWay Partner, they also gai