Reporting Emissions Respecting International Guidelines

In this concept page we explain how the PTV Routing API should be used to calculate emissions according to the international recommended guidelines described in the GLEC framework.
This concept gives you a step-by-step description of the recommended procedure.

1. Selection of the emissions calculation method, depending on the region
2. Specification of the fuel consumption
3. Specification of loading/unloading sequence on the tour
4. Correct sharing/allocation of the emission costs between all customers

Selection of the emissions calculation method

In PTV Developer we offer several different methods to calculate emissions of a tour.

In this concept we focus on the new ISO Standard EMISSIONS_ISO14083_2023. This emission calculation respects the new ISO 14083:2023 which was published in March 2023 as a new ISO standard succeeding the European standard EMISSIONS_EN16258_2012. In PTV Developer we still offer both standards, but we recommend to use EMISSIONS_ISO14083_2023 in order to calculate the energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with ISO 14083 'Quantification and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions arising from transport chain operations'. Nonetheless the following steps also apply when using the former European standard EMISSIONS_EN16258_2012.

Please note that depending on your region, there could be slight changes in the application of ISO 14083:2023. The emission factors are different between Europe and North America. The GLEC framework recommends to use the same factors for Europe and South America. For Asia and Africa, an uplift of 22% should be applied to the regional values for Europe, for vehicles above 3,5t. For cars and vans, an uplift of 13% should be applied.

Specification of the fuel consumption

The fuel consumption is the key element to calculate emissions. It should be specified as accurately as possible. 

There are different ways to define the consumption: 

1. using a customer-defined value
   In PTV Developer, it is possible to fill the averageFuelConsumption vehicle property, depending on your knowledge (from the most to the less accurate):
   1. Individual measurement: use the actually-measured average consumption of the vehicle which is executing the tour, if you know it. 
   2. Average value typical for the route: use the saved consumption data of a regular and similar trip.
   3. Average value typical for the vehicle: use the known average fuel consumption of the selected vehicle.
   4. Fleet value: use the known average consumption of your vehicle fleet. Note: the average consumption should come from vehicles of the same type.
2. using the GLEC Framework recommandation
   If none of the above values is known, then depending on the region, the vehicle type and the fuel type, a fuel consumption is recommended. Please refer to the tables which are available in the documentation.
3. using the HBEFA Database (Handbook of Emission Factors)
   For Europe, GLEC Framework uses the specifications of HBEFA. With PTV Developer the customer can directly specify to use HBEFA, when he cannot provide any average fuel consumption. To do so, please select EMISSIONS_ISO14083_2023_DEFAULT_CONSUMPTION (or EMISSIONS_EN16258_2012_HBEFA) in the results, instead of defining a specific consumption. Note: when generating emission reports, a reason should be given to explain why using such default values. 
4. using the default vehicle properties
   Each predefined vehicle profile in PTV Developer contains a list of properties of the vehicle, including an averageFuelConsumption.

Please remember that it is important to select also, for combustion and hybrid engines, the proper bioFuelRatio to be used in the country where the vehicle operates.

For hybrid and electric engines, the averageElectricityConsumption should also be set.  

Specification of loading/unloading sequence on the tour

In order to be able to calculate the correct split of costs for each customer you must know the exact loading/unloading sequence at the stops. To be compliant with the recommended guidelines always make sure that the vehicle's last stop corresponds to its depot. This means that if the departure depot is the same as the arrival depot, you must specify the departure depot a second time in the route calculation. 

The report of loading/unloading sequences must be either a loading/unloading weight or a loading/unloading volume. The measurement unit (t,kg,L,m3) must be the same for the whole trip.

For each delivery, the user must report which quantities of goods (volume or weight) were unloaded and which quantities of goods were loaded.

Correct allocation of emissions on stops

To validate the international recommended guidelines described in the GLEC framework, only reporting emissions values returned by the PTV Developer Routing API is not enough. The user must comply with the standard recommendations by using the allocation method. This method is described in detail in the Emission allocation method concept page. To generate an emissions report, the entire trip must be taken into account, from the vehicle's departure to its return to the depot.  

For each delivery waypoint, the notional transport performance must be calculated as the product of:

1. the great circle distance (m) between the delivery and the depot
2. The loading/unloading quantity (t) at the delivery
   (to compute the loading/unloading quantity, calculate the absolute value of the loadWeight difference between 2 deliveries.)

Then sum up all the notional transport performances and use this result to generate emissions shares per delivery.