“They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.” - Joni Mitchell
In his book, How to Avoid a Climate Disaster, Bill Gates notes that the world produces about 51 billion tons (gigatons) of greenhouse gases (GHG) annually. He has since become convinced of three things:
We have to get to zero emissions by 2050.
We need to deploy the tools we already have, like solar and wind, faster and smarter.
We have to create and roll out breakthrough technologies to take us the rest of the way.
Our current strategies of renewable energy and electric cars will get us nowhere near zero GHG by 2050. To meet this goal will require solutions from numerous angles, involving everyone on the planet. Here are 10 ways supply chain professionals can reduce GHG’s that are both doable and effective.
Calculate your supply chain’s carbon footprint. You must start by drawing a line in the sand. As the saying goes, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.” There are several websites on the internet that can show you how to calculate your supply chain’s carbon footprint.
Consider an electric or hybrid fleet. If you have a private fleet a great way to reduce your carbon footprint is to switch all or part of it to Hybrid or electric. It is also great advertising, too.
Improve your packaging. Packaging is the greatest polluter of landfills. Focus on providing just enough packaging to adequately protect raw material and finished goods. Effective packaging saves you twice; first on the cost of packaging and secondly on the cost of transportation. Also consider using recycled materials or returnable dunnage.
Consolidate your shipments. Wherever possible consolidate parcel to LTL, and LTL to TL for inbound and outbound material. Consolidation saves the cost of fuel, delivery (number of trucks) and the labor.
Shorten Your Supply Chains. Most food in the United States travels about 2,000 miles. Apparel travels as much as 40,000 miles and the typical iPhone has traveled to the moon and back before it was purchased. Long supply chains are fragile and shorter supply chains are disrupted less often. In the post-Covid world, consider regionalization, nearshoring, or reshoring.
Consume Less Energy. Implementing an energy management system throughout your supply chain reduces energy consumption and saves in two ways by reducing GHG emissions and by saving the organization money.
Switch to Renewable Energy Sources. Another win/win. Modern warehouses are flat-roofed buildings and are highly conducive for solar panels and depending on the size of your facility may be able to offset some or all its utility bill. Subsidies may be available from local, state, or federal agencies, further reducing capital costs. Also, consider convincing management to purchase energy from renewable sources.
Utilize Green Building Practices in New Facilities. GHG’s from concrete and steel manufacture account for nearly 20% of annual emissions. While low-GHG steel and concrete are still in the future, other green building concepts can be used now. These include energy management systems, cool roofs, and natural air conditioning.
Leverage Digital Transformation. Digital automated systems reduce an organization’s carbon footprint by utilizing less energy, fewer resources, and produces less waste. An excellent example of this is the Supply Chain Control Tower.
Incorporate Circular Economy concepts. This starts with recycling programs, then introduces repair, refurbishment, and remanufacturing programs, expanding them to get to a goal of net zero waste. It will require a change in the mindset of everyone in the organization.
The stakes we face are enormous. As environmentalist Rob Watson says: “Mother Nature is just chemistry, biology and physics. That’s all she is. You cannot sweet-talk her. You cannot spin her. You cannot tell her that the oil companies say climate change is a hoax. No, Mother Nature is going to do whatever chemistry, biology and physics dictate. Mother Nature always bats last, and she always bats 1.000.”
Gary welcomes your comments and feedback. You can email him at gary@supplychainmavens.net.