4

Introduction to the calculation

of CO2 emissions for participation
in Lean & Green
The basics of establishing the baseline of
CO2 emissions of road transport, inland shipping,
rail transport, warehouses/distribution centers
and terminals, for participation
in national chapters of Lean & Green
 Table of contents

Introduction 2

1 The step-by-step plan 3

2 Calculating CO2 emissions of transport 7

3 Warehousing and transshipment terminals 10

4 Combining results 13

Introduction
One of the first steps in Lean & Green is to establish the baseline: the CO21 emissions related to a
part of a supply chain for a shipper, or related to your companies activities for a transporter. The
baseline is used to develop an action plan to reduce the overall emissions by 20 % or more.
Establishing a baseline may be the first time someone is exposed to CO2 emissions calculations for
transport. This document provides a simple, step-by-step plan for calculating CO2 emissions2.
You will be guided through the process of determining the CO2 emissions of the most common
transport modes (road, inland shipping and rail transport), as well as those of warehouses,
distribution centers and terminals.

We will explain step by step:

• Where you should start
• What data you need and where you can collect them
• How to calculate your CO2 emissions
• How to calculate your emissions per unit

1 The official indicator for GHG emissions is CO2e , the normalized effect of a GHG gas. In this document CO2 is used as a shorthand for GHG emissions
expressed in CO2e.
2 The method for calculating emissions is derived from the GLEC framework, and is compliant with this methodology.

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1 The step-by-step plan
There are four steps involved in calculating your CO2 emissions. This chapter explains these four
steps and identifies a number of general principles. In the chapters that follow the step-by-step
plan is applied, firstly to calculate the CO2 emissions of transport and then to calculate those of
warehousing.

The step-by-step plan is part of the process of developing an action plan as preparation for
participation in Lean & Green3. This step-by-step plan completes the following sections of the action
plan: “The CO2 Baseline Measurement” and “Scope”.

1.1 Step 1. Determining the scope

In the first step you choose the activities for which the CO2 emissions will be calculated. You can
include all the logistics activities within your organization. However, for Lean & Green at least 50% of
the CO2 emissions and/or volume of activities must be in scope, for the following functions:
• Own DC/warehouse (if applicable)
• Outbound transport (distribution to customer, transport to own DCs)

1.2 Step 2. Collecting the data

The second step involves collecting the data used to calculate the CO2 emissions. The data must
correspond to the scope selected in step 1 and must relate to one full year.

You need
• details of the fuel consumed for outbound transport
• the amount and type energy consumed by your warehouse or terminal, plus the GHG emissions of
cooling fluid for conditioned warehouses
• the quantity of goods transported or handled

This quantity can be expressed in terms of the number of tons, the number of m3, the number of
packets, the number of pallets or your own unit. The preference is given to the number of tons.
The requirements differ between modes and is indicated in the specific chapters.
Logistics services providers use their own data, while shippers can use data obtained from their
logistics services providers.

3 Applicable for Award and Star phases. The second Star requires a different scope.

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1.3 Step 3. Calculating your co2 emissions
In step 3 you calculate CO2 emissions on the basis of the data collected in step 2, and calculate a
specific consumption factor to be used by customers for their own calculation. The consumption
factor is necessary for a shipper who outsources transport to calculate their particular footprint,
especially in shared (barge, rail, LTL and distribution) transport.

For a warehouse the amount and type of energy is converted to CO2 emissions. For instance,
electricity is converted with the applicable local emission factor (kg CO2 /kWh) to CO2 emissions.

Emission factors can be found in (inter-)national databases (such as https://co2emissiefactoren.nl/ for

the Netherlands, or GLEC as a fallback for default factors). The used emission factor must be mentioned
explicitly. As a standard WTW (well-to-wheel) emission factors are used by Lean & Green, so electricity or
other sources of energy can be compared to diesel.

The total amount of emissions is divided by the number of outbound goods in a year to generate the
specific consumption factor (kg CO2 /unit).

For a terminal the same method is used to calculate the absolute amount of CO2 emissions, to be
divided by the number of units handled to generate the specific consumption factor (for instance kg
CO2 /TEU).
A transporter can use the total amount of fuel, to be multiplied with the emission factor of 3.23 kg CO2
per liter of diesel to calculate the total amount of emissions.
For transport the specific consumption factor can be calculated in a various manners. The more
sophisticated the manner of calculation, the more accurate the consumption factor is.

The most simple manner4 is to use:

• The number of units shipped in a year (# units)
• The amount of kilometers driven in a year (# km’s)
• The amount of fuel used in a year, converted to total CO2 emissions

The consumption factor is than calculated as

total CO2 emissions/# units.# km’s

4 A more sophisticated approach allocates emissions based on shortest-feasible-distances driven, multiplied by the amount to that destination (see
GLEC framework). The preferred method in the second Star and further is to use the Great-Circle-Distance allocation method and Lean Analytics tools,
as explained in Lean & Green Analytics.

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Shippers use all these consumption factors to calculate the amount of emissions in a part of a supply
chain, and to add them up.

For them the emissions are calculated by multiplying the number of units by the length of the trip
for transport, or to multiply the number of units by the specific consumption factor of (for instance) a
terminal.

If a shipper cannot get these consumption factors from their transporters of terminals or warehouses,
standard consumption factors are to be used. In the Netherlands https://co2emissiefactoren.nl/
gives these for the Netherlands. In other countries other references can be used, or the GLEC
consumption factors as a fallback for default factors. If default consumption factors are used, the
source must be mentioned.

1.4 Step 4. Calculating the emission for unit

The final step involves calculating the emission per unit as a KPI. This KPI has practical benefits for the
reduction realization as it compensates for changes in volume over the years.
It gives:
1 Insight into your CO2 emissions per unit of goods transported and/or stored/transshipped.
2 Overview of your own performance and comparison with your peers. That means you will know
how you are performing in relation to other companies.
3 Potential areas for action: Based on this insight and overview you will know where you can make
improvements.

1 SCOPE 2 DATA 3 CO2 4 KPI

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2 Calculating CO2 emissions of transport
This chapter describes how you calculate CO2 emissions for road, inland shipping or rail transport.
Chapter three deals with warehouses. At the end of this chapter three examples are given of how
the step-by-step plan can be applied to calculate CO2 emissions.

2.1 Determining the scope for Lean & Green Award

As explained in the previous chapter, 50% of the CO2/volume for warehousing/DC’s and outbound
transport must be in scope. Shippers must also have 50% of their total CO2 and/or volume in scope,
even if this has been outsourced.

2.2 Collecting the data

To calculate the CO2 emissions, you need to collect data on fuel and the quantity of goods transported.
Where these data can be collected, differs from one mode to another. Ideally, you should work with a
single unit of measurement. If you have several units, we advise you to recalculate them using
conversion tables (e.g. 1 TEU = 10 tons or 1 cubic meter = 333 kg).

ROAD TRANSPORT
Fuel The total quantity of liters of diesel purchased over an entire year. You can find these data in the fuel accounting
records provided by your fuel supplier or in your own financial accounts, for example.
Quantity of goods The unit for the quantity of goods transported is the same as the unit you used to charge your customers for
transported your services. This may be tons, m3, packets, pallets or another unit. The preferred unit is tons. You will find
these data in the TMS or on the invoices sent to your customers.
INLAND SHIPPING TRANSPORT
Fuel The total quantity of liters of diesel purchased over an entire year. This relates specifically to ‘Marine Diesel Oil’
or ‘Heavy Fuel Oil’. These data can be found in the fuel accounting records provided by your fuel supplier or in
your own financial accounts, for example.
Quantity of goods The unit for the quantity of goods transported is the same as the unit you used to charge your customers
transported for your services. This may be tons, m3, packets, pallets or another unit. The preferred unit is tons. You will find
these data in the TMS or on the invoices sent to your customers.
RAIL TRANSPORT
Fuel The total quantity of liters of diesel purchased over an entire year. These data can be found in the fuel
accounting records provided by your fuel supplier or in your own financial accounts, for example.
Quantity of goods The unit for the quantity of goods transported is the same as the unit you used to charge your customers for
transported your services. This may be tons, m3, packets, pallets or another unit. The preferred unit is tons. You will find
these data in the TMS or on the invoices sent to your customers.

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If you are a logistics services provider and have no insight into your actual fuel consumption, or a
hipper who cannot obtain this information from your logistics services provider, you can calculate it
using the distance traveled.

ROAD TRANSPORT
Kilometers The total number of kilometers actually traveled over an entire year. You can use actual distances
or planned distances if the actual distance traveled is not available. You will find these data in your
Transport Management System (TMS) or on the invoices sent to your customers.
INLAND SHIPPING TRANSPORT
Kilometers
The distance actually traveled in kilometers. You will find these data in the logbook or can calculate
them based on the final annual readings. Otherwise you can use the invoices sent to your customers
or a printout of your tachograph.
RAIL TRANSPORT
Kilometers
The total number of kilometers traveled over an entire year. You can use data from your TMS,
the planned distances based on the rail infrastructure or those indicated on the invoices sent to your
customers.

Once you have calculated the distance, you can convert this to CO2 on the basis of:
• Fuel consumption per kilometer. Let’s say you have traveled 10,000 km, with average
consumption of 3.5 km per liter. That means you have consumed 10,000/3.5 = 285.7 liters of
diesel.
• Emission factors, as found in www.co2emissiefactoren.nl or GLEC

2.3 Calculating your CO2 emissions

You can calculate your CO2 emissions by multiplying the quantity of fuel by the corresponding conversion factor.
The table below shows the emission factors for fuel for each mode.

Fuel CO2 emission factor5

Road transport Diesel 3.230 kg CO2 / L

Inland shipping transport Marine Diesel Oil 3.530 kg CO2 / L
Heavy Fuel Oil 3.310 kg CO2 / L
Rail transport Diesel 3.230 kg CO2 / L

If for a shipper a logistics services provider supplies the average CO2 emissions per unit of goods transported and
the quantity of goods transported, the total CO2 emissions for the shipper is found by multiplying the quantity of
goods transported by the average CO2 emissions per unit of goods transported.

5 All CO2 emission factors in this document originate from http://co2emissiefactoren.nl/

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If a shipper only has a specific consumption factor (kg CO2 emissions/unit.km), it is necessary to
estimate the length of the travelled distances per delivery order. So per order the following data is
necessary:
• Amount (units)
• Shortest feasible distance (km)
• Specific consumption factor (kg CO2 emissions/unit.km)
The multiplication of these three gives the amount of CO2.

2.4 Calculating the KPI

The KPI (kg CO2 per ton) indicates the CO2 emissions per unit of goods transported. You calculate the
KPI by dividing the CO2 emissions by the quantity of goods transported. The KPI guides you in the
area of sustainability by offering you an insight and an overview, as well as revealing potential areas in
which you can take action.

2.5 Examples
2.5.1 Example: Outbound road transport
A logistics services provider with its own trucks transports goods to the customer itself. In 2016 its
fleet of trucks purchased a combined total of 45,239 liters of diesel. Over the same year 12,764 tons of
goods were transported.

1 SCOPE 2 DATA 3 CO2 4 KPI

Step 1 (Scope) The scope is outbound transport
Step 2 (Data) 45,239 liters of diesel and 12,764 tons
Step 3 (CO2) 45,239L * 3.230 kg CO2 / L (emission factor) = 146,121.97 kg CO2
Step 4 (KPI) 146,121.97 kg CO2 / 12,764 tons = 11.44 kg CO2 / ton

2.5.2 Example: Outsourced road transport (groupage)

A shipper has outsourced its transport to a logistics services provider. The logistics services provider
cannot provide any details on fuel or kilometers. It is possible, however, indicate that the CO2
emissions per ton are 14.62 kg CO2 / ton and that 8,442 tons were transported over the entire year.

Step 1 (Scope) The scope is outbound transport (outsourced to a logistics services provider)
Step 2 (Data) Fuel and distance data are lacking. Known: 14.62 kg CO2 / ton for 8,442 tons of goods
Step 3 (CO2) 8,442 tons * 14.62 kg CO2 / ton = 123,337.62 kg CO2
Step 4 (KPI) 23,337.62 kg CO2 / 8,442 tons of goods = 14.62 kg CO2 / ton

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2.5.3 Example: Inland shipping transport
An inland shipping transport operator transports containers for several customers between two
terminals. 16,565 TEU are transported annually. The operator has received a final statement from its
fuel supplier indicating that 86,415 liters of Marine Diesel Oil have been purchased.

Step 1 (Scope) The scope is all the transport carried out by this operator.
Step 2 (Data) Marine Diesel Oil: 86,415 L, 16,565 TEU
Step 3 (CO2) Emission factor for Diesel Oil: 3.530 kg CO2 / L. 86,415 L * 3.530 kg CO2 / L =
305,044.95 kg CO2
Step 4 (KPI) 305,044.95 kg CO2 / 16,565 TEU = 18.41 kg CO2 / TEU

3 Warehousing and transshipment terminals

This chapter describes the process of determining the CO2 emissions of warehousing and
terminals.

3.1 Determining the scope

As explained in chapter two, 50% of the CO2/volume for warehousing and outbound transport
must be in scope. Your outbound transport was dealt with in chapter three. This chapter focuses
on warehousing.
If you use a logistics services provider (for warehousing and/or transport), you must also have 50%
of your total CO2 and/or volume in scope, even if this has been outsourced.

3.2 Collecting data

To determine your CO2 emissions, the first figure you need is the quantity of goods. With a view to
achieving a simple calculation method that avoids double counting, we use the quantity of outbound
goods. The unit used can be tons, m3, packets, pallets or another unit. Preference is given to tons,
however. You will find these data in the WMS or on your invoices.

Besides the quantity of goods, you also need the amount of energy consumed:
• Electricity (kWh)
• Gas
• Diesel
These data can be found in your financial accounts or in the annual statement from your energy
supplier, for example. You need to ensure that electricity, for instance, is not counted twice, if both
warehousing and transshipment activities have been included in the scope.

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3.3 Calculating your CO2 emissions
You can calculate your CO2 emissions by first calculating the CO2 emissions for each energy carrier and/
or fuel. The CO2 emissions for an individual energy carrier and/or fuel are calculated by multiplying the
amount of energy or fuel by the corresponding conversion factor. You then add up the CO2 emissions
for each energy carrier and/or fuel.

Relevant emission factors are shown in the table below.

Fuel Conversion factor6

Natural gas 1.887 kg CO2 / Nm3
Electricity - non-renewable 0.526 kg CO2 / kWh
Diesel 3.230 kg CO2 / Liter
LPG 1.806 kg CO2 / Liter

3.4 determining the KPI

The KPI offers an insight into your CO2 emissions per unit of goods stored/transshipped. You calculate
the KPI by dividing the CO2 emissions by the quantity of goods stored/transshipped. The KPI guides
you in the area of sustainability by offering you an insight and an overview, as well as revealing
potential areas in which you can take action.

3.5 Example
A logistics services provider has a warehouse. Two electric forklift trucks operate in the warehouse and
a terminal truck is used on the site. A total of 564,023 pallets were stored in 2016. The energy supplier
charged for 54,230 kWh and 1,423 Nm3 of natural gas. In 2016 the terminal truck used 450 L of diesel.

6 All CO2 emission factors in this document originate from http://co2emissiefactoren.nl/

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 Step 1 (Scope) The scope relates to the goods stored in a warehouse. It is therefore the outbound
flow that is considered.
Step 2 (Data) 564,023 outbound pallets left the warehouse. This resulted in the following fuel/
energy consumption:
a Electricity: 54,230 kWh
b Natural gas: 1,423 Nm3
c Diesel: 450 L
Step 3 (CO2) The emissions are calculated for each fuel:
a Emission factor for electricity: 0.526 kg CO2 / kWh.
54,230 kWh * 0.526 kg CO2 / kWh = 28,524.98 kg CO2
b Emission factor for natural gas: 1.887 kg CO2 / Nm3
1,423 Nm3 * 1.887 kg CO2 / Nm3 = 2,685.2 kg CO2
c Emission factor for diesel: 3.230 kg CO2 / Liter
450 L * 3.230 CO2 / Liter = 1,453.5 kg CO2
Total: 28,524.98 kg CO2 (Electricity) + 2,685.2 kg CO2 (Gas) +
1,453.5 kg CO2 (Diesel) = 32,663.68 kg CO2
Step 4 (KPI) 32,663.68 kg CO2 / 564,023 pallets = 0.058 kg CO2 / pallet

The above example also introduces the next chapter, as the various factors shown above are added
together. In the next chapter you will see how this can be done for different modes or a complete
supply chain.

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4 Combining results

Imagine that your supply chain is made up of a number of different elements/modes. You can
calculate the KPI for this chain. This chapter explains how to do this and what you need to take into
account.

4.1 Adding up your KPI’s

In chapter three you calculated your KPI for each mode. The KPI for your warehouse was calculated in
chapter four. To calculate the emissions for your overall transport chain, you can add up the individual
KPIs. There are a number of points that you need to take into account here:
• The unit (quantity of goods) must be the same for all elements. If you perform the calculation
for one mode in emissions per ton, you cannot use emissions per pallet for a different mode.
• Please note that you should only add up the KPIs that are applicable (to the transport chain
you are calculating).

4.2 Example
A logistics services provider wants to calculate its CO2 emissions per ton. It manages a transport chain
that is structured as follows:

WAREHOUSE INLAND SHIPPING ROAD TRANSPORT CUSTOMERS

Using the step-by-step plan the logistics services provider has calculated the CO2 emissions per ton
transported or stored for its warehouse, inland shipping transport and road transport:
• Warehouse: 0.089 kg CO2 / ton
• Inland shipping transport: 4.15 kg CO2 / ton
• Road transport: 11.44 kg CO2 / ton

You can then calculate the KPI by simply adding up these elements:
• 0.089 kg CO2 / ton + 4.15 kg CO2 / ton + 11.44 kg CO2/ ton = 15.679 kg CO2 / ton
Imagine that this logistics services provider has transported 10,000 tons. Its CO2 emissions are
therefore:
• 15.679 kg CO2 per ton x 10,000 tons = 15,679 kg CO2

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 Other publications in this series

2013 1 Giving significance to big data

in supply chains

2015 2 Metrics for continuous improvement

of the supply chain performance

2016 3 Analytics

2016 4 Introduction to the calculation of

CO2 emissions for paticipation in
Lean & Green

Lean & Green Europe

2017 5 Carbon productivity in global
supply chains
Ezelsveldlaan 59
2611 RV Delft
www.lean-green.eu
For comments or more
information please contact
us at [email protected]

Lean & Green Europe is Europe’s leading community for sustainable logistics. Lean & Green Europe combines corporate
responsibility for reducing footprints with continuous improvement of operational performance and value for customers.
Lean & Green Europe develops community-driven practical tools and guidelines for applying international emission
calculation standards. Lean & Green members include > 500 shippers, carriers, logistics service providers, ports, terminals
and retailers.