Road Freight: DIN EN 16258

💡 High-Level Description

The DIN EN 16258 standard, established by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN), provides guidelines for the methodology to calculate and declare transport-specific energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. This standard is highly regarded in the logistics and transport sectors, and sea freight is no exception. Its rigorous guidelines serve as a baseline for environmental transparency and uniformity, particularly in an era where there's an escalating focus on carbon footprint accountability.

In the context of sea freight, DIN EN 16258 accounts for various variables affecting emission values, including ship type, fuel consumed, distance traveled, and cargo tonnage. By considering these factors, the methodology ensures that carbon emissions from marine transport are calculated with a high degree of accuracy. Furthermore, the adoption of such a standard across the sea freight sector facilitates more consistent benchmarking, reporting, and comparison, enabling stakeholders to formulate more effective emission reduction strategies.

Sample API Requests

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

{
  "expand": ["items"],
  "items": [
    {
      "audit": false,
      "type": "sea_freight",
      "external_reference": "test_1",
      "origin": "BRA",
      "destination": "LAX",
      "weight_in_tonnes": 98,
      "methodology": "DIN-EN-16258",
      "energy_scope": "wtw"
    }
  ]
}

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": "BRA",
      "destination": "LAX",
      "weight_in_tonnes": 98,
      "methodology": "DIN-EN-16258",
      "energy_scope": "wtw"
    }
  ]
}

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": "DIN-EN-16258" (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.

• "vessel_type": DIN-EN-16258 only considers tanker and container (default).

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

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

Default values

• "vessel_type": "container"

• "energy_scope": "wtw"

Calculation steps

For well-to-wheels GHG emissions of the VOS:

$$G_w \text{(VOS)} = F\text{(VOS)} \times g_w$$

For tank-to-wheels GHG emissions of the VOS:

$$G_t \text{(VOS)} = F\text{(VOS)} \times g_t$$

• $F\text{(VOS)}$ is the total fuel consumption used for the VOS.

• $g_w$ is the well-to-wheels GHG emissions factor for the fuel used.

• $g_t$ is the tank-to-wheels GHG emission factor for the fuel used.

$$S \text{(leg)} = T\text{(leg)} \div T\text{(VOS)}$$

$S \text{(leg)}$ is the factor used to calculate the share of the VOS’s energy and emissions which is allocated to a transport service for the leg. This share is based on relative proportions of transport activity for the leg and for the associated VOS.

$$G_w \text{(leg)} = G_w\text{(VOS)} \times S\text{(leg)}$$

$T \text{(leg)}$ is the transport service's transport activity for the leg.

$$G_w \text{(leg)} = G_w\text{(VOS)} \times S\text{(leg)}$$

$T \text{(VOS)}$ is the transport activity of the VOS which is related to the leg.

$$G_t \text{(leg)} = G_t\text{(VOS)} \times S\text{(leg)}$$

Sample API Response

{
    "carbon_quantity": 17646134,
    "carbon_unit": "gram",
    "items": [
        {
            "carbon_quantity": 17646134,
            "carbon_unit": "gram",
            "external_reference": "test_1",
            "type": "sea_freight",
            "methodology": "DIN-EN-16258",
            "distance": 10674.0,
            "distance_unit": "kilometer",
            "algorithm_specifics": {
                "algorithm_type": "DIN-EN-16258",
                "data": {
                    "energy_factor_ttw_in_MJ": 209580,
                    "energy_factor_wtw_in_MJ": 228210,
                    "ghg_emissions_ttw_in_g": 16300681,
                    "ghg_emissions_wtw_in_g": 17646134
                }
            }
        }
    ]
}

Bibliography

• Method for Calculating and Declaring Energy Consumption (2013, March). DIN EN 16258. https://dx.doi.org/10.31030/1894795