With the proposal and gradual implementation of China's "dual carbon" (carbon peaking and carbon neutrality) goals, all walks of life are ushering in a change with green and low-carbon as the core.
This change is also profound in the field of logistics ** chain. Recently,We are seeing more and more news about green and low-carbon ** chains flooding the industry. The first conference on the development of green logistics and ** chain was held, which released the "China Green Logistics Development Report (2023)" and the "Public Carbon Emission Calculator for the Logistics Industry".As representatives of the green logistics industry, SF Express, Full Truck and other enterprises have also appeared at the 28th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28).
Green and low-carbon is becoming an important weight for enterprises to participate in the global first-class chain competition. As a key link in the first chain, logistics and freight are one of the key factors for various industries to achieve emission reduction goals. Green and low-carbon is an important part of the national sustainable development strategy, and it is also regarded by the logistics industry as an inevitable choice to achieve high-quality development.
However, logistics companies face considerable difficulties in implementing low-carbon actions:First of allThe direction is unclear, the path is unclear, and there is no clear and implementable "roadmap" for green and low-carbon transformationAnd then there'sThe low-carbon transition requires a large amount of investment in technology and equipment, and enterprises will face capital and cost pressures in the short term, and the transition return cycle is too long, and the return on investment cannot be accurately quantified in the long runAlthough green and low-carbon is already the general trend, large-scale investment in the early stage may not help enterprises gain a clear competitive advantage.
Therefore, although the awareness of carbon reduction has been generally improved, most of them are still in a wait-and-see mode. Even so, we are seeing more and more logistics giants entering the game, incorporating the concept of green development into their corporate social responsibility system, and comprehensively planning and managing carbon emission reduction as a strategic asset.
As the national team of China's logistics industry,SinotransWe are committed to creating a more infrastructure-level "carbon footprint calculator". We also see that leading Chinese private enterprises such as SF Express, JD Logistics, and Full Bang are also playing an exemplary role.
SFof carbon reduction actions focus on reducing the carbon footprint of our parcel business. On the basis of 2021, SF Express proposes to increase its carbon efficiency by 55% by 2030 and reduce the carbon footprint of each express package by 70%. Similar to SF,JD LogisticsThe carbon reduction goal is also more focused on parcels, and fully considers orders at the park and the entire ** chain level to reduce the carbon footprint on packaging. As the first logistics company in China to commit to the Scientific Carbon Reduction Target (SBTI), JD Logistics has relatively strict requirements in the exploration and practice of carbon emission reduction.
Looking at the various carbon reduction initiatives, the first step towards zero-emission freight is to adopt as many low-emission vehicles and equipment as possible, while improving the efficiency of all aspects through data and management. In general, it is nothing more than the following paths: the use of new energy and new materials, improve energy utilization, optimize transportation routes, and improve the mileage utilization efficiency of vehicles.
Pan Yonggang, director of the Luoge Research InstituteIt is pointed out that looking at the carbon emission reduction of the entire logistics industry, in addition to relying on the participation of operational enterprises based on their own vehicles and logistics business, there is another very important way, which is to promote carbon inclusion in the industry through platform enterprises.
In the platform enterprise,Full GangIt is a typical case in the industry. As a representative of "green logistics" in China's transportation field, Full Truck Group has been invited to participate in the United Nations Climate Change Conference for two consecutive years, and at the conference, it talked about the "Chinese plan" for carbon emission reduction of road logistics.
Due to the large number of road transport vehicles in China, the carbon emission pressure caused by the high altitude rate cannot be underestimated. As the earliest digital freight platform in China to devote itself to low-carbon practice, Full Truck has been committed to reducing the "three empty" (empty, vacant, and unloaded) problems in the road freight industry by virtue of its strong highway network scale, driver agglomeration advantages and accurate matching algorithms.
Back in 2019,In millions of driver users and hundreds of millions of orders, the Full Truck Group discovered the carbon reduction value of the digital freight platform, and established a "double carbon" project team, and then put forward a practical and effective carbon emission measurement method for the road freight intelligent matching system, calculated the carbon emissions of truck drivers on the Full Truck platform, and became the first carbon emission reduction group standard in the field of road freight matching and trading in China, filling the gap in the carbon emission reduction accounting system of the road freight industry. In the past two years, Full Truck has also linked up with platform drivers to jointly build a shared carbon inclusive platform, and launched the first driver carbon account system in China's road freight field.
According to the calculation of the Full Truck Group,In 2022,Truck drivers have completed more than 800 billion ton-kilometers of transportation turnover on the Full Truck platform, reducing carbon emissions by 12 million tons and saving more than 4.6 billion liters of diesel.
In addition to fulfilling social responsibilities, what is the real role of these carbon reductions?For example, according to the new carbon tariff policy, the EU is taxing the carbon emissions associated with imported goods, and if the average carbon emissions of Chinese steel, aluminum and other products are higher than the average carbon emissions of EU domestic products, Chinese companies will be subject to carbon border taxes when exporting. With the expansion of the scope of carbon tariff collection and the strengthening of strength, more and more Party A will calculate the carbon emissions on its first chain, adjust the first business structure, and give priority to logistics companies that have the ability to provide green logistics services.
Let's look at how platform enterprises can truly break the "double carbon" problem?The answer is carbon inclusion.
From the perspective of Full Bang's practice, the key value point of the platform is that it transforms the green concept into the action consciousness of truck drivers with the most economical means of emission reduction - carbon inclusive mechanism.
Carbon inclusion refers to the specific quantification of energy conservation and carbon reduction behaviors of small and micro enterprises, community households and individuals through technical means, and assigns certain value to encourage the public to practice green behaviors. For example, the familiar Ant Forest converts the public's low-carbon behavior into "green energy" through the corresponding emission reduction methodology, and then exchanges various rights and interests or public welfare donations according to carbon credits to encourage the public to continue low-carbon behavior.
Is this set of "mass routes" feasible in the field of freight transport?
In addition to the majority of small and medium-sized enterprises, individual freight drivers alone have reached tens of millions, and the potential for emission reduction is huge.
This year is the tenth year of the birth of the full truck group's Yunman products, over the past ten years, the full truck group has continued to polish the various technologies of vehicle and cargo matching, continue to track and record the trajectory, mileage, actual load rate, driving behavior and other data in the transportation process, can scientifically calculate the carbon emission reduction baseline, establish the platform's own "green driver" capacity pool, and creatively open a carbon account for these drivers.
Through the carbon account, truck drivers can view the carbon assets they have obtained in the process of receiving transportation orders, and exchange them for the green rights and interests set up by the platform, and can obtain tangible benefits. Through this form, individual drivers can benefit from low-carbon behaviors and actively cultivate awareness of energy conservation and carbon reduction.
The "ambition" of the full gang is not only that,In the next step, Full Truck Group hopes to work with truck drivers to move towards carbon trading. That is, the carbon reduction amount of the driver's carbon account is gathered together, and it is taken to CCER or other carbon inclusive trading markets to be realized, and the realized carbon assets are returned to the driver in a certain proportion.
In the short term, it will be difficult for carbon trading to become a reality in the field of road freight. In China's carbon market, there are two main types of tradable carbon assets: one is the mandatory market, that is, carbon allowances, which are the carbon emission allowances that are compulsorily allocated to key emitting enterprises within the specified time (such as eight key industries such as electricity, petrochemicals, steel, and papermaking);One is the voluntary market, that is, CCER - the national certified voluntary emission reduction, which is officially restarted, but the four methodologies published only include afforestation carbon sinks, grid-connected solar thermal power generation, grid-connected offshore wind power, and mangrove construction as the basis for the validation, implementation and emission reduction accounting and verification of voluntary emission reduction projects.
Road freight and its corresponding decarbonisation behaviour are not included, either in priority emitting sectors in mandatory markets or in the development of methodologies in voluntary markets, and a methodology is identified at the national level as requiring a long-term process. The good news is that there are cities in China that have included general cargo road transport enterprises in the pilot list of carbon emission management, once the opportunity is ripe, the carbon assets accumulated by the full gang platform for many years will have the opportunity to be verified and confirmed.
Pan YonggangIt is believed that platform enterprises play an important role in disseminating the concept of green and low-carbon, and they can maximize the participation of more platform users in carbon reduction actions. The engagement of platform users is highly dependent on the platform's own efforts to reduce carbon emissions. This includes the establishment of carbon account systems at the technical level, the establishment of carbon reduction models and methodsIt also includes the establishment of special funds to provide incentives for drivers, and to provide channels for points exchange services and benefits. Through the above measures, platform companies will link the forces of all parties, including the platform itself, enterprise entities, individual drivers, as well as **, associations and research institutions, and promote the formation of the entire logistics industry to continue to save energy and reduce carbon emissions. In this process, platform companies such as Full Truck play a unique value.
Duan Maosheng, deputy director, researcher and doctoral supervisor of the Institute of Energy, Environment and Economics, Tsinghua UniversityIt is believed that the transportation industry has large emissions and relatively limited emission reduction path options, which are the key and difficult points to achieve the "double carbon" goal, and it is necessary to promote transportation enterprises to actively take emission reduction measures with innovative technical and financial means. Through the Internet and big data technology, Full Truck Group fully taps the potential of emission reduction according to the characteristics of the transportation industry, integrates the carbon reduction results of the value chain into its own business and products, and promotes the low-carbon and sustainable development of the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain.
The realization of the goal of carbon peak and carbon neutrality is inseparable from the concerted efforts of the whole industry chain and the whole industry. I believe that with the continuous promotion of the consensus of all parties, the logistics industry will become more environmentally friendly, greener, more efficient and sustainable.
Author |Logistics Mahjong Hu
** Logistics Salon
This article is the author's personal opinion and does not represent the position of Logistics Salon.