Carbon Efficiency of Humanitarian Supply Chains: Evidence from French Red Cross operations
Natural catastrophes are often amplified by man-made impact on the environment. Sustainability is identified as a major gap in humanitarian logistics research literature. Although humanitarian supply chains are designed for speed and sustainability is of minor concern, environmentally-friendly behav...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | en_US |
| Published: |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division
2016
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/102968 |
| _version_ | 1826189441635450880 |
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| author | Oberhofer, Peter Blanco, Edgar Craig, Anthony J. |
| author_facet | Oberhofer, Peter Blanco, Edgar Craig, Anthony J. |
| author_sort | Oberhofer, Peter |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Natural catastrophes are often amplified by man-made impact on the environment. Sustainability is identified as a major gap in humanitarian logistics research literature. Although humanitarian supply chains are designed for speed and sustainability is of minor concern, environmentally-friendly behavior (e.g. through reduction of transportation emissions and avoidance of non-degradable materials) should be a long-term concern as it may ultimately affect more vulnerable regions. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how green house gas emissions can be measured using the supply chain of common relief items in humanitarian logistics. We analyze the CO2 emissions of selected supply chains by performing Life Cycle Assessments based on data provided by the French Red Cross. We calculate the CO2 emissions of the items from ‘cradle to grave’ including production, transportation, warehousing and disposal. Using these calculations, we show that transporting relief items causes the majority of emissions; however, transportation modes may not always be changed as the main purpose of humanitarian supply chains is speed. Nevertheless, strategic and efficient pre-positioning of main items will translate into less transportation and thus reducing the environmental impact. The study also shows that initiatives for “greening” item production and disposal can improve the overall carbon efficiency of humanitarian supply chains. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T08:14:43Z |
| format | Working Paper |
| id | mit-1721.1/102968 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T08:14:43Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1029682019-04-09T17:34:11Z Carbon Efficiency of Humanitarian Supply Chains: Evidence from French Red Cross operations Oberhofer, Peter Blanco, Edgar Craig, Anthony J. Natural catastrophes are often amplified by man-made impact on the environment. Sustainability is identified as a major gap in humanitarian logistics research literature. Although humanitarian supply chains are designed for speed and sustainability is of minor concern, environmentally-friendly behavior (e.g. through reduction of transportation emissions and avoidance of non-degradable materials) should be a long-term concern as it may ultimately affect more vulnerable regions. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how green house gas emissions can be measured using the supply chain of common relief items in humanitarian logistics. We analyze the CO2 emissions of selected supply chains by performing Life Cycle Assessments based on data provided by the French Red Cross. We calculate the CO2 emissions of the items from ‘cradle to grave’ including production, transportation, warehousing and disposal. Using these calculations, we show that transporting relief items causes the majority of emissions; however, transportation modes may not always be changed as the main purpose of humanitarian supply chains is speed. Nevertheless, strategic and efficient pre-positioning of main items will translate into less transportation and thus reducing the environmental impact. The study also shows that initiatives for “greening” item production and disposal can improve the overall carbon efficiency of humanitarian supply chains. 2016-06-06T14:29:56Z 2016-06-06T14:29:56Z 2013-06 Working Paper http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/102968 en_US ESD Working Papers;ESD-WP-2013-10 application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division |
| spellingShingle | Oberhofer, Peter Blanco, Edgar Craig, Anthony J. Carbon Efficiency of Humanitarian Supply Chains: Evidence from French Red Cross operations |
| title | Carbon Efficiency of Humanitarian Supply Chains: Evidence from French Red Cross operations |
| title_full | Carbon Efficiency of Humanitarian Supply Chains: Evidence from French Red Cross operations |
| title_fullStr | Carbon Efficiency of Humanitarian Supply Chains: Evidence from French Red Cross operations |
| title_full_unstemmed | Carbon Efficiency of Humanitarian Supply Chains: Evidence from French Red Cross operations |
| title_short | Carbon Efficiency of Humanitarian Supply Chains: Evidence from French Red Cross operations |
| title_sort | carbon efficiency of humanitarian supply chains evidence from french red cross operations |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/102968 |
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