To reduce its carbon footprint, the Port of Vancouver USA has purchased green e-certified Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) associated with its electricity consumption. It has purchased the equivalent of 60% of its estimated annual electricity usage, for the buildings in which it controls the utilities, through RECs.
Through its purchase, the port will be avoiding emissions of approximately 1,159 metric tons of carbon dioxide associated with conventional energy production. That's the equivalent of driving a car roughly 4.7 million miles, recycling more than 10.4 million aluminum cans, recycling more than 1.7 million pounds of newspaper, or taking more than 370 cars off the road annually.
In recognition for that commitment, the port has been certified as a member of the Environmental Protection Agency's Green Power Partnership Leadership Club.
Transportation management services company Transplace has teamed with SmartWay in an innovative program developed by the Environmental Protection Agency to assist and promote improvements to its motor carrier's operational processes and achieve heightened environmental performance.
The program was established with Transplace in 2006. SmartWay has over 700 enrolled partners, including freight shippers, motor and rail carriers, logistics service companies, and industry associations. The SmartWay three-year commitment calls for partners to measure current environmental performance and then set goals to improve this focused aspect of their operations.
Carriers achieve environmental performance goals by improving the efficiency of their fleet operations. Shippers meet goals by using participating carriers to move a significant portion of their freight.
“Transplace is aggressively pursuing green initiatives with its customers by way of more efficient routing, which helps consolidates shipments into multi-stop truckloads to reduce the number of trucks on the road, leading directly to decreased fuel costs, reduced empty miles, and emissions and delivered efficiencies across the supply chain,” said Tom Sanderson, president and CEO of Transplace.