BSR: Average CO2 Emissions Continue Declining

Average CO2 emissions per container per kilometer for global ocean transportation routes have declined by 8.4 percent from 2013 to 2014 and by more than 29 percent since 2009, according to BSR’s Clean Cargo Working Group (CCWG) annual report for 2015.

The report attributed a portion of these results to the changes in carrier representation or global trade conditions.

In addition, the continued performance improvement was also attributed to carrier fleet efficiency and data quality, both of which have direct benefits for shipping customers.

The lowest CO2 emissions in 2014 with respect to trade lines were recorded in Asia to North Europe trade route with 37.9 grams of CO2 emitted per TEU kilometer for non-refrigerated cargo and 69.6 for reefers on 2,989 vessels, down from 47.1 grams and 75.9 grams of CO2 reported in 2012 respectively.

The highest CO2 emissions were found in Intra-Europe 84 grams of CO2 per TEU kilometer for dries and 130.1 grams of CO2 for reefers and Intra-Americas (Caribbean) with 80.9 grams of CO2 for dries and 123.8 grams for reefers, the report shows.

However, the said levels have also seen reduction from the levels recorded in 2012 when 92.2 and 138.1 grams of CO2 were recorded for the said two categories in Intra-Europe and 103.4 and 147.2 grams of CO2 were reported in Intra-Americas.