2Sustain

I first wrote about UPS’s carbon neutral shipping option when it was first launched in the US back in 2009. Last week, the company announced that it is expanding the availability of this popular program.

Now, customers in many countries in Europe, Asia and the Americas can select carbon neutral as an option within the UPS WorldShip shipping system.

For those who aren’t familiar with it, WorldShip is UPS’s full-featured, Windows-based shipping software designed for customers who ship five or more packages per day. With more than 550,000 installations worldwide, WorldShip is one of the most widely deployed transportation software applications in the world.

UPS’s recent announcement means that the majority of the company’s WorldShip customer base now have the option of paying a small fee to calculate and offset the carbon emissions associated with their shipments. (more…)

Working within the framework of the World Ports Climate Initiative, six European ports have collaborated to launch an initiative to reward ships that cut emissions.

Beginning in January, the ports of Hamburg, Bremen, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp and Le Havre will offer financial incentives to ships that perform better than the emissions standard adopted by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) back in 2008. The cornerstone of this new initiative is the Environmental Ship Index (ESI), which essentially calculates a ship’s green performance. (more…)

Shipping just got much more transparent –and that’s great news for any company that’s working to reduce its environmental impact.

Earlier this month, Maersk Line became the first shipping line to receive independent verification of its CO2 emissions data, vessel by vessel.

The company will now add the CO2 data – which is verified by Lloyd’s Register – as one of eight performance measures in score cards that are presented to customers.  Starbucks Coffee Company, one of Maersk Line’s customers, says this improved emission data will help reduce its overall carbon footprint.

“Being a good environmental steward is important to Starbucks Coffee Company. Our global logistics providers can aid us in lowering the carbon footprint of our supply chain by improving their CO2 emission data. Quantified measurement and verification is a step in the right direction. Together, we continue to strive to better the world in which we do business,” John Bauer, director of global transportation, Starbucks Coffee Company, said. (more…)

Building on the success of the program it introduced in the US last fall, UPS has expanded carbon neutral shipping to 35 countries and territories across Europe, Asia and the Americas.

That means, starting this week, millions more UPS customers now have the option of paying a small fee to calculate and offset the carbon emissions associated with their shipments. (In the United States, the small fee ranges from $0.05 for a ground package and $0.20 for an air package to $0.75 for an international package. Outside the United States, UPS says the small flat fee will vary slightly by country depending on the type of service selected and the origin and destination of the shipment.) (more…)

Late last month, United Airlines completed the first flight by a U.S. commercial airline using natural gas synthetic jet fuel.

Specifically, this was  an “engineering validation” flight conducted using a certified synthetic jet fuel (RenJet) produced by Rentech, Inc. and approved for commercial use. RenJet was used in a 40/60 mix with conventional Jet A fuel in one of two engines on an Airbus 319 aircraft.

RenJet is derived from natural gas and converted to liquid fuel, and it’s considered a “drop-in” fuel –which means that it can be used in existing engines with no modifications required. (more…)