Road Freight: GLEC

💡 High-Level Description

The Global Logistics Emissions Council (GLEC) framework emerges as a landmark in carbon accounting, especially pertinent to the sea freight sector. GLEC's approach provides companies with a harmonized and comprehensive method to calculate and report the carbon footprints of their logistics supply chains, including sea freight. A key strength of the GLEC framework is its universality; it is compatible with other standards and methods, which facilitates streamlined reporting and comparison across various sectors and regions.

As maritime transportation is one of the major contributors to global carbon emissions, the GLEC framework places a notable emphasis on this sector. It incorporates factors like fuel consumption, ship operational practices, and even the impact of auxiliary activities at ports. By providing guidelines that are both rigorous and actionable, the GLEC framework is a vital tool for companies aiming to reduce their carbon footprint and align with global sustainability goals.

Sample API Request

{
  "expand": [
    "items"
  ],
  "items": [
    {
      "type": "sea_freight",
      "external_reference": "test_2",
      "origin": "OSL",
      "destination": "HEL",
      "weight_in_tonnes": 86,
      "fuel_type": "vlsfo",
      "vessel_type": "liquefied_gas_tanker_under_199999_dwt",
      "load_characteristic": "heavy",
      "energy_scope": "ttw",
      "methodology": "GLEC"
    }
  ]
}

API Request Items

• "type": "sea_freight" (required)

• "methodology": "GLEC" (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": GLEC defaults to general_cargo_under_4999_dwt. Values are bulk_carrier_under_9999_dwt, bulk_carrier_under_34999_dwt, bulk_carrier_under_59999_dwt, bulk_carrier_under_99999_dwt, bulk_carrier_under_199999_dwt, bulk_carrier_above_200000_dwt, chemical_tanker_under_4999_dwt, chemical_tanker_under_9999_dwt, chemical_tanker_under_19999_dwt, chemical_tanker_under_39999_dwt, chemical_tanker_above_40000_dwt, general_cargo_under_4999_dwt, general_cargo_under_9999_dwt, general_cargo_under_19999_dwt, general_cargo_above_20000_dwt, liquefied_gas_tanker_under_49999_dwt, liquefied_gas_tanker_under_99999_dwt, liquefied_gas_tanker_under_199999_dwt, liquefied_gas_tanker_above_200000_dwt, oil_tanker_under_4999_dwt, oil_tanker_under_9999_dwt, oil_tanker_under_19999_dwt, oil_tanker_under_59999_dwt, oil_tanker_under_79999_dwt, oil_tanker_under_119999_dwt, oil_tanker_under_199999_dwt, oil_tanker_above_200000_dwt, other_liquids_tankers_under_999_dwt, other_liquids_tankers_above_1000_dwt, ferry_ropax_under_1999_dwt, ferry_ropax_under_4999_dwt, ferry_ropax_under_9999_dwt, ferry_ropax_under_19999_dwt, ferry_ropax_above_20000_dwt, refrigerated_bulk_under_1999_dwt, refrigerated_bulk_under_5999_dwt, refrigerated_bulk_under_9999_dwt, or refrigerated_bulk_above_10000_dwt. Mapping vessel_type with fuel_type can be found here.
• "energy_scope": Values are ttw or wtw. Default value is wtw.

• "fuel_type": Values are hfo, vlsfo, or mdo. Default value is hfo. Mapping vessel_type with fuel_type can be found here.

Default values

• “vessel_type”: "roro_fleet_average"

• “load_characteristic”: "average"

• “fuel_type”: "hfo"

• “energy_factor”: "wtw"

Sample API Response

{
    "carbon_quantity": 713817,
    "carbon_unit": "gram",
    "items": [
        {
            "carbon_quantity": 713817,
            "carbon_unit": "gram",
            "external_reference": "test_2",
            "type": "sea_freight",
            "methodology": "GLEC",
            "distance": 883.0,
            "distance_unit": "kilometer",
            "algorithm_specifics": {
                "algorithm_type": "glec",
                "data": {
                    "co2e_in_g": 713817,
                    "co2e_emissions_wtw_in_g": 835318,
                    "co2e_per_tonne_km_in_g": 9,
                    "tonne_km": 75938,
                    "reporting_year": 2024,
                    "transportation_mode": "sea_transportation"
                }
            }
        }
    ]
}

Smart Freight Center helped us fine tune our calculations of all freight and logistics related operations in accordance with the GLEC framework.

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/