FTA investigates ways to reduce transport carbon footprint

The Freight Transport Association is expanding its research on carbon emission reduction to include its maritime supply chain.

"Shipping is generally regarded as an environmentally sound mode of transport, with relatively low energy consumption per unit of freight moved, but with carbon emissions predicted to rise and national targets in place to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 50 to 80 percent by 2050, it is essential that we start work on monitoring and reducing carbon emissions now," said Chris Welsh, FTA's general manager of global and European policy.

Welsh spoke at the 'Managing Carbon Emissions and Greenhouse Gases in Shipping' conference in London on October 12, addressing strategies to reduce carbon emissions in the supply chain from the shippers' perspective, Materials Handling World magazine reports.

The FTA will be assisting Heriot-Watt University with its research on the subject as a part of its Logistics Carbon Reduction Scheme, a plan designed to assess how supply chain decisions affect carbon emissions and identify ways for supply chain components to reduce their carbon footprints, the magazine continues. The initiative, which was launched earlier this year, has 40 members and is currently focused on commercial vehicle activity.