Assessing transport energy consumption in two product supply chains

Abstract

The paper addresses the transport activities and associated energy consumption involved in the production and supply of two products: jeans and yoghurt. In the case of jeans, the analysis is from the locations in which cotton is grown, to retail outlets in the UK; in the case of yoghurt, the analysis is from the supply of milk on farms, to retail outlets in France. The results show that the transport stages from the point of jeans manufacture to UK port are responsible for the greatest proportion of transport energy use per kilogram of jeans in the UK supply chain. In the case of the French yoghurt supply chains, the results indicate that each of the three transport stages from farm to third-party distribution centre consume approximately the same proportion of total freight transport energy. The energy used on the transport stage for yoghurt from third-party distribution centre to retail outlet varies depending on the type of retail outlet served. Far greater quantities of energy are used in transporting jeans than yoghurts from farm/field to retail outlet. This is explained by the distances involved in the respective supply chains. Both case studies demonstrate that the energy used by consumers transporting goods to their homes by car can be as great as total freight transport energy used in the supply chain from farm/field to retail outlet (per kilogram of product transported).

Keywords:

• Freight transport
• Supply chain
• Energy consumption
• Jeans
• Yoghurt

Acknowledgements

This paper is based on a research project that is being carried out by the University of Westminster and the Institut National de Recherche sur les Transports et leur Sécurité (INRETS) (Rizet and Keita 2005). This research project has been supported by the Agence de l’Environnement et de la Maîtrise de l’Energie (ADEME). The authors are grateful for comments from two anonymous reviewers.