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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.
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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
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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,
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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).
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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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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
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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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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
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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40
60
80
100
120
Pa yb
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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
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1.5
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3.5
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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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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