MIT Study Identifies Effective Carbon Management Strategies

MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics (MIT CTL) has singled out a carbon management approach as being potentially up to 25% more accurate than other approaches.

A newly published joint study on supply chain carbon footprint calculations, conducted by Damco and MIT, concludes that Damco’s approach to carbon footprinting is more comprehensive and accurate than the more generic and predominant carbon footprint assessment when ocean logistics are part of the mix. According to MIT CTL researchers, the generic approach under- or over-estimates carbon emissions by up to 25% at a product level from factory door in Asia to a distribution center in the United States.

“We compared two methodologies for how to calculate a company’s carbon footprint,” explains Erling Johns Nielsen, global head of Damco’s supply chain development practice. “One was calculated using publicly available emission standards, which is the most common way in the market, and the other using Damco’s SupplyChain CarbonCheck methodology, which is based on operational insights, live data and more detailed emission standards and calculations.”

Damco, through its work with MIT, hopes to establish an industry benchmark for how supply chain carbon emissions should be calculated in a uniform way. Damco is the new combined brand of the A.P. Moller - Maersk Group's logistics activities.