Bearing Point Launches LogEC Freight Carbon Analysis Tool

Consultancy BearingPoint has released software that allows logistics providers and shippers to calculate and analyze their carbon footprints, as well as to plan, evaluate and manage emissions reduction initiatives.

Logistics Emissions Calculator, or LogEC (screenshot pictured), lets companies calculate and analyze the effects of every shipment – down to an individual parcel – and therefore to understand and identify optimization potential, BearingPoint says. Based on the results, firms can determine which routes and types of freight – be it train, ship, plane or truck – cause the highest levels of emissions.

LogEC provides carbon calculations for completed transport routes and is also able to simulate transport scenarios and reduction targets. For example, future fleet consumption can be simulated, which allows the definition of realistic targets for future emission reductions, BearingPoint says.

The consultancy says its software will help companies deal with a number of new and impending regulations. Air traffic in Europe has been included in the continent’s Emissions Trading Scheme since January, and European standard prEN 16258 for calculating carbon emissions in transport services will come into force this year. In France, it will be obligatory for companies to deliver carbon emission data for each journey from July 1, 2013, onwards.

But according to BearingPoint’s Green SCM Monitor, 60 percent of European businesses haven’t taken any action yet regarding the measurement of their carbon footprint.