Heads-up for our roadmap towards operational data in transport emission assessment
There is an increasing demand for more precise and at the same time simplifying supporting tools to calculate transport emissions. This is much needed in order to follow up all the small and crucial incremental improvement measures in the transport industry. NTM therefore launches a roadmap to support such progress linked to our coming update of NTMCalc version 5.0 in 2022.
NTM has been struggling with the challenges related to assessing transport related emissions since we started in 1993. Sure, we have made progress but we now feel an urge to speed up the process. Much driven by cumbersome facts about climate change.
NTM is not a rallying organisation and never will be. But we now ask for a new progressive attitude among the transport community. We are sincerely concerned about the rapid climate change not being sufficiently met by new mitigating and innovative transport solutions.
Within our field of enabling measurement, we fear that too slow progress to measure correct is holding back much needed innovation among transport related stakeholders. We believe there is an urgent need for this more sophisticated follow-up approach where all players may come up and justify or scrap their ideas with relevant data. Our roadmap is not rocket science, it is just about ensuring three important pillars that will be our coming main concern and ambition to implement in NTMCalc 5.0.
It the transport industry are able to develop more climate smart solutions and operation we are foreseeing a very exciting development phase the coming 2-5 years. Even small measures to reduce the GHG-emissions in transport operation must and will be measurable monitored and evaluated. Our aim is to support and encourage this crucial innovation process in various ways through our platform. Hopefully our principal ideas and concepts can be used by our members, start-ups and other established organisations to come up with new GHG-saving concepts. Our roadmap towards this new follow-up reality include development within three areas:
- Use of real fuel and electricity consumption
Implement the ability to capture and use of real fuel and electricity consumption through operational data from credible and verified sources on-board or in linked data bases. Through such data even tiny improvements reducing consumption by small percentages will matter. We believe that each mode of traffic and operator will need to turn every stone and deliver such data if they want to remain credible and relevant. NTM will still provide model and default data as fall-back in calculations or for benchmarking purposes.
- Actual type of fuel and electricity used
In today´s market the actual type of fuel or electricity used is surprisingly uncertain for the transport service providers as blending or sources often are unknown or not communicated. It is time for a more transparent reporting by the fuel and electricity suppliers. NTM is systematically and continuously assessing relevant emissions data for all possible feedstock and production processes in a well to wheel perspective that can be linked to actual fuel or electricity used.
- Real capacity and true utilization degree specifying shippers and travellers actual share
In different pilots NTM has been exploring the potential of measuring real loading factor through sophisticated weight and volume sensors for cargo spaces. We also know that public transport operators are using systems to measures true passenger factor in cabins on trains, buses and airplanes. A true follow-up will also require actual distance by vehicle or vessel. These data are likely to be available in a near future. It will also enable a fair allocation of emissions to travellers or shippers.
We will actively support development in above crucial areas in order to make our platform increasingly relevant which in turn will stimulate market innovations that can be measured in terms of less GHG emissions. We will keep you posted as we are progressing. Stay tuned!
Magnus Swahn MD
