2Sustain

Because carbon accounting is both technical and complex, the trucking industry needs to adopt a more standardized approach to improve reporting of its greenhouse gas emissions, according to the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI).

The ATRI reviewed and analyzed a range of greenhouse gas reporting tools and emissions models to assess their consistency and applicability to the trucking industry, and the organization found that current methods of carbon accounting are often inadequate for today’s U.S. trucking fleets.

For example, even though many carriers now rely on the U.S. EPA SmartWay Partnership Truck Model to quantify greenhouse gas emissions, this model only calculates emissions generated from a company’s on-road vehicle fleet (Scope I emissions). It does not include an accounting of emissions generated indirectly from the purchase of electricity  (Scope II) , nor those upstream and downstream emissions associated with various business-related activities (Scope III).

Even the reporting of Scope I emissions are variable. For instance, the report states that emission factors for biodiesel were not consistent and leakage rates among refrigerants varied by a factor of five.

The two-page report, A Synthesis of Carbon Accounting Tools with Applicability to the Trucking Industry, is available here.