A framework of measures to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions in freight transport: Systematic literature review from a Manufacturer?s perspective

The publication of the sixth assessment report of the IPCC finally cleared out voices mentioning that the increase in surface temperature of the last 100 years was not man-made and that substantial changes are necessary to still reach the goals set in the Paris climate agreement. Two economic sectors contributing strongly to climate change due to their high greenhouse gas emissions are industry and transport. Whereas cross-sectoral dependencies between the energy and the transport sector are widely investigated, measures that can facilitate an emission mitigation in the crossings of the industrial and the transportation sector are merely researched systematically, diminishing the perspective of a manufacturing firms' supply chain. To contribute to this gap, the focal paper presents the results of a Systematic Literature Review conducted in 2021, presenting first, a comprehensive categorization of measures that are presented in scientific literature and can be implemented to decarbonize transport operations of manufacturing companies, and second, the expected maximum reduction potential of those measures. Analyzing 81 peer-reviewed articles from several journals, the authors identify a total of 215 measures and assign them to 27 categories in nine clusters, that can be adopted by manufacturing companies themselves or by their logistics service providers. In general, categories related to drivetrain and fuel selection stand out in the number of identified measures, but a consensus on the reduction potential of those measures is missing, which is, among others, due to different technologies, baseline scenarios, assumptions, and carbon intensities. The most confidential estimation of the reduction potential can be made in the mode selection, where the median of all found figures is located at 28.5%. The lowest number of measures was found in the cluster Shippers' Employees, highlighting the need to further investigate the role of the human in decarbonizing the economy. Changes in operations, for example a higher utilization of vehicles due to a shift away from the Just-in -Time concept are mentioned in literature, but its impacts cannot be underpinned by figures.

Automated summary

The publication of the IPCC's sixth assessment report confirms that the increase in surface temperature over the past century is indeed man-made, and emphasizes the need for significant changes to meet the goals set in the Paris climate agreement. This study focuses on the industrial and transportation sectors, which are major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. While the energy-transportation nexus has been extensively studied, there is a lack of systematic research on emission mitigation in the intersection of the industrial and transportation sectors, particularly in the context of manufacturing firms' supply chains. To address this gap, the study conducts a systematic literature review and identifies 215 measures that can be adopted by manufacturing companies or their logistics service providers to decarbonize their transport operations. The findings highlight the importance of aspects such as drivetrain and fuel selection, but also reveal the lack of consensus on the reduction potential of these measures due to various factors. The study also points out the need for further investigation into the role of human factors in decarbonizing the economy.