Road Freight: Clean Cargo

💡 High-Level Description

Clean Cargo, an industry-driven collaboration within the shipping sector, is recognized for its proactive stance on environmental sustainability. To address the need for standardized carbon emissions metrics, Clean Cargo introduced its robust methodology specifically tailored for the sea freight domain. Their approach provides stakeholders within the industry a clear and comprehensive framework to gauge their environmental performance and identify areas of improvement.

Clean Cargo's methodology is data-driven, leveraging both primary and secondary sources to generate reliable carbon emission estimates. Recognizing the heterogeneity within the sea freight sector, the methodology factors in different ship types, fuel consumption patterns, operational profiles, and cargo types. By doing so, it paints a holistic picture of emissions and provides stakeholders with insights essential for targeted carbon-reducing initiatives. This methodology not only ensures consistent reporting but also spurs collaborative efforts among industry members to drive sustainability.

Sample API Requests

A. Without audit mode (for pre-booking/quotes)

{
  "expand": ["items"],
  "items": [
    {
      "audit": false,
      "type": "sea_freight",
      "external_reference": "test_1",
      "origin": "LON",
      "destination": "NYC",
      "weight_in_tonnes": 5.5,
      "cargo_type": "dry",
      "energy_scope": "wtw",
      "trade_lane": "trans_atlantic",
      "methodology": "CLEAN-CARGO"
    }
  ]
}

B. With audit mode (for finalized/post-booking calculations)

{
  "expand": ["items"],
  "audit_for": "<Auditable Entity ID>",
  "items": [
    {
      "audit": true,
      "type": "sea_freight",
      "external_reference": "test_1",
      "origin": "LON",
      "destination": "NYC",
      "weight_in_tonnes": 5.5,
      "cargo_type": "dry",
      "energy_scope": "wtw",
      "trade_lane": "trans_atlantic",
      "methodology": "CLEAN-CARGO"
    }
  ]
}

Note: audit_for is optional. Provide when calculating on behalf of a specific Auditable entity; otherwise omit.

API Request Items

• "type": "sea_freight" (required)

• "methodology": "CLEAN-CARGO" (required)

• "external_reference": A unique identifier that helps you link the resulting emissions to the requested item. Especially useful if multiple items are requested since SQUAKE cannot guarantee to keep the same order. The maximum length is 128 characters.

• "origin": SQUAKE will try to resolve the origin/destination regardless of its format. Ideally, for addresses use the Post standard, for ports use UN/LOCODE codes (format: ^[A-Z]{2}\W?[A-Z2-9]{3}$, e.g., "DEHAM"). You can also pass lat/long (format: ^[-+]?\d{1,3}\.\d{1,10}\s?,\s?[-+]?\d{1,3}\.\d{1,10}$, e.g., "+40.712,-74.006").

• "destination": SQUAKE will try to resolve the origin/destination regardless of its format. Ideally, for addresses use the Post standard, for ports use UN/LOCODE codes (format: ^[A-Z]{2}\W?[A-Z2-9]{3}$, e.g., "DEHAM"). You can also pass lat/long (format: ^[-+]?\d{1,3}\.\d{1,10}\s?,\s?[-+]?\d{1,3}\.\d{1,10}$, e.g., "+40.712,-74.006").

• "distance_in_km": Prioritized over origin and destination. If you don't have a distance_in_km, you can use origin and destination and the distance will be automatically resolved. If you pass both distance_in_km and origin/destination, then distance_in_km will be used.

• "weight_in_tonnes": Numeric value.

• "cargo_type": Values are dry or reefer. Default value is reefer.

• "energy_scope": Values are ttw or wtw. Default value is wtw.

• "trade_lane": Values are panama, trans_atlantic, trans_suez, trans_pacific, or other.

• "audit": boolean (optional). Set to true to create immutable audit records for finalized calculations. Must be enabled for your account.

Default values

• "cargo_type": "reefer"

• "energy_scope": "wtw"

Sample API Response

{
    "carbon_quantity": 8312600,
    "carbon_unit": "gram",
    "items": [
        {
            "carbon_quantity": 8312600,
            "carbon_unit": "gram",
            "external_reference": "test_1",
            "type": "sea_freight",
            "methodology": "CLEAN-CARGO",
            "distance": 934.0,
            "distance_unit": "kilometer",
            "algorithm_specifics": {
                "algorithm_type": "clean_cargo",
                "data": {
                    "co2e_in_g": 8312600,
                    "co2e_emissions_wtw_in_g": 8312600,
                    "co2e_per_tonne_km_in_g": 8.9,
                    "tonne_km": 934000,
                    "reporting_year": 2024,
                    "transportation_mode": "sea_transportation"
                }
            }
        }
    ]
}

Bibliography

• Smart Freight Center (2024). Global Logistics Emissions Council Framework V3.1.

• Towards efficient and zero emissions (n.d.). Smart Freight Centre. Retrieved from https://www.smartfreightcentre.org/en/