Towards a reference architecture for fuel-based carbon management systems in the logistics industry

The current practice in the logistics industry is to calculate the carbon footprint of transportation activities based on the distance covered, using long-term fuel consumption averages per kilometer. However, fuel consumption may actually vary over time, because of differences in road characteristi...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Information systems frontiers 2013-11, Vol.15 (5), p.725-745
Main Authors: Iacob, M. E., van Sinderen, M. J., Steenwijk, M., Verkroost, P.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
Architecture
Business and Management
Carbon
Computer programs
Control
Emissions
Energy efficiency
Energy management
Environmental impact
Fuel consumption
Greenhouse effect
Information systems
IT in Business
Logistics
Management of Computing and Information Systems
Management systems
Mathematical analysis
Operations Research/Decision Theory
Research methodology
Studies
Systems Theory
Transportation industry
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The current practice in the logistics industry is to calculate the carbon footprint of transportation activities based on the distance covered, using long-term fuel consumption averages per kilometer. However, fuel consumption may actually vary over time, because of differences in road characteristics, traffic situations, driving behavior, etc. Therefore, distance-based emission calculations are not accurate. Our approach is fuel-based and it calculates transport greenhouse gas emissions by obtaining the actual fuel consumption during trips via board computers installed in vehicles. Thus, we propose an architecture for a fuel-based Logistics Carbon Management System (LCMS) that monitors and collects real-time data about the fuel consumption during trips, and, consequently, calculates detailed and accurate carbon footprints of transportation services. Furthermore, this system is integrated with the logistics service provider’s business processes and with typical software applications (e.g., Transport Management Systems and Board Computers). We validate and implement the proposed architecture by means of a prototype.
ISSN:1387-3326
1572-9419
DOI:10.1007/s10796-013-9416-y