Transport

Contents

  1. 1 Fairtransport, a new way of green cargo
  2. 2 A chocolate delivery by a carbon-neutral boat
  3. 3 The New Age of Sail

Transportation accounts for approximately 25% of world energy demand and for more than 62% of all the oil used each year.

So when we study renewable energy options we soon become very aware of the fact that it's usually in the transport issues that we end up ignoring, as we are so used to a highly transportable concentrated energy source like petrol to get around.

& of course Transport cannot be considered in isolation as it interrelates deeply with lifestyle choices, what we're moving around the globe & why, & where the energy is moving from & to ...

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Fairtransport, a new way of green cargo




8 MAY 2012

A chocolate delivery by a carbon-neutral boat

Sustainable shipment of organic chocolate by the Grenada Chocolate Company

 Care for a piece of real organic chocolate? In association with the Dutch company FairTransport, the Grenada Chocolate Company made the first ever carbon-neutral shipment. The green shipment goes by a sailboat named ‘Tres Hombres’, a trade wind-powered sailing vessel. With no engine, the boat is depending on the trade winds across the Atlantic.

The Chocolate Company, specialized in making pure organic chocolate, shipped five tons of organic chocolate from Grenada to New York City (, England, Portsmouth, and of course Amsterdam.) The first batch of chocolate and the company’s founder Matt Green, were picked up in March. Even though the exact date of arrival was depending on the trade winds, the delivery took place in early April.

Using small batches, solar energy, chemical-free cacao and in addition the green shipment, it is a company that truly cares for the environment. So it may take a while, but at the end you will have a real piece of organic delicacy, shipped by a CO2 free sailboat.




The New Age of Sail


see TED talk here 









“Cheap oil, 
the lubricant of quick, 
inexpensive transportation 
links across the world, 
may not return anytime soon, 
upsetting the logic 
of diffuse global supply chains 
that treat geography 
as a footnote 
in the pursuit of lower wages.” 

L. Rohter, 
New York Times.





While globalization 
was favored by cheap 
and efficient transport systems,
 the new relationships between
 transport and energy 
are likely to restructure 
the global structure 
of production and distribution
 towards regionalization.




There is often a compromise between speed and energy consumption, related to the desired economic returns. Passengers and high value goods can be transported by rapid but energy intensive modes since the time component of their mobility tends to have a high value, which conveys the willingness to use more energy. Economies of scale, mainly those achieved by maritime transportation, are linked to low levels of energy consumption per unit of mass being transported, but at a lower speed. This fits relatively well freight transport imperatives, particularly bulk. Comparatively, air freight has high energy consumption levels linked to high speed services. Transportation markets are particularly impacted by these three energy issues:

Transport & Energy









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