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Meeting Sustainability Goals with Green Warehousing

green warehousing
Global Logistics, Global Trade Daily, Warehousing

Meeting Sustainability Goals with Green Warehousing

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Warehouses are essential for many businesses. They also keep the e-commerce industry running. At the same time, warehousing has a significant ecological footprint and environmental impact. To be sustainable, warehouses need to adopt green practices. This is where green warehousing offers an opportunity for sustainability-minded businesses. 

What is green warehousing?

Warehouses protect products in storage. Done properly, warehousing reduces the risk of contamination, spoilage and waste. Another important aspect of warehousing is having products in the right place to meet demands or requirements.

Warehousing requires a lot of resources and generates waste that is not always recyclable. Storage space, packaging materials and much more are needed to fulfill orders. Lighting, climate control and other activities related to daily operations consume energy and costs. Warehouse operations also create non-recyclable waste.

Green warehousing involves reducing energy consumption with sustainable practices and materials. This might include, for example, creating a distribution network that reduces transportation. It also focuses on managing inventories and moving goods and people across warehouse floors in an efficient way. 

Thinking about green logistics beyond warehousing

An eco-friendly warehouse is the main component of any green warehousing strategy. Green warehousing is just one element of a sustainable approach to shipping and distribution. Businesses looking to reduce their carbon footprint should think about a broader green logistics approach.

Sustainable warehousing is just one part of the supply chain. Businesses should consider how raw materials are sourced and how products are manufactured. Sustainability can be achieved, for example, by processing materials and producing products in an energy-efficient way. Eliminating waste during these steps in the supply chain is also key.

Green logistics also involves improved product distribution. This might involve eco-friendly packing materials and processes. For example, space can be optimized in containers and on pallets when transporting products. This reduces fuel consumption during shipping. 

The benefits of green warehousing

Cost savings are one of the main benefits of green or sustainable warehousing. With lower consumption, energy bills will be reduced. These savings can be used to invest in more environmentally-friendly upgrades or other aspects of your businesses. That said, the benefits do not stop at cost savings.

Consumer loyalty

More and more consumers are making conscious decisions about their purchases based on environmental and social impacts. A company’s actions on sustainability are increasingly tied to consumer loyalty and preferences.

Products making environmental, social and governance (ESG) claims, for example, averaged 28% cumulative growth over the past five years compared to 20% for products that made none. In North America, 70% of consumers value brands that operate sustainably.

Employee satisfaction

Many workers are concerned about environmental ethics and impacts. A UK study found that 65% of workers are more likely to work for a company with a strong environmental policy.

A company’s sustainability record can impact decisions about where people want to work and can impact a company’s turnover rate. Adopting sustainable practices like green warehousing can be important in attracting and retaining talent.

How to adopt green warehousing?

Green warehousing requires commitment at all levels. Some changes like recycling packaging materials are relatively low-cost. Other changes like sustainable construction or improved lighting will require investments. In the longer term, these changes will result in lower energy costs and other benefits.

Designing a sustainable space

The design of a warehouse is essential for sustainability by reducing the building’s carbon footprint. This might include powering the space with renewable energy like solar panels and using sustainable building materials. Rainwater infiltration systems also help reduce water consumption.

Introducing green spaces reduces energy consumption and indoor temperature changes. Placing plants on the roof of an uninsulated building reduces energy consumption from heating by up to 5% during the winter and from cooling by up to 33% in the summer months.

Green spaces like green roofs, walls and interior decoration also provide additional benefits. Outdoors, they create ecological diversity for wildlife. For workers, green spaces create more welcoming areas for breaks. 

Updating your warehouse fleet

Choosing the right equipment to transport goods is another important step in green warehousing. Electric equipment is a green alternative to using equipment powered by propane or natural gas. This reduces emissions by avoiding the use of fossil fuels.

Multi-purpose forklifts also reduce carbon footprints since they help reduce the number of vehicles needed in a warehouse. Attachments can be used for different tasks on the floor while reducing the space required to store vehicle fleets. Forklift manufacturer Combilift, for example, found its customers created up to 50% more storage space with a multi-purpose forklift.

Updating warehouse lighting and ventilation

Proper lighting is a must to ensure warehouses are safe. Switching to eco-friendly options like light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs and automated lighting helps with energy consumption. Thanks to their high efficiency and directional nature, LED lights are increasingly common in industrial and commercial settings. They also last longer and use at least 75% less energy.

Improving ventilation in a warehouse space also helps improve efficiency. During the winter, heating travels upwards and leaves the warehouse floor cool. This can be uncomfortable for workers and require the heating to be constantly on to maintain a more comfortable interior temperature.

Industrial high-speed, low-volume fans help address this problem by redirecting rising hot air. In the summer, they also help circulate cool air. These fans will help increase comfort and reduce energy use.

Using sustainable materials and recycling

Warehousing requires a lot of packaging. It is not surprising that this creates significant amounts of waste each day. Introducing a recycling program ensures that packaging materials are disposed of correctly.

Reusing pallets and storage materials also helps reduce waste while also cutting costs. Keeping materials out of landfills also means companies reduce disposal costs.

Space optimization

Storage optimization and inventory control help increase efficiency on the warehouse floor. For example, storing products in a way that minimizes space ensures you make the most of your warehouse.

When it comes to inventory, properly labeling, packaging and storing products minimizes damage. This decreases the risk of spoilage and waste. Stacking products on pallets also helps forklifts move them effectively.

Transitioning to green practices in your warehouse

For businesses looking to save and reduce the environmental impacts of their operations, green warehousing is an important element of any sustainability approach. From changing the machinery you use to upgrading lighting and ventilation, green warehousing helps businesses reduce energy consumption and waste. At the same time, these practices can improve a company’s bottom line by attracting consumers and talent while reducing costs.

fuel cell stationary
Archives, Global Trade Daily, Technology

Portable Fuel Cells Market is Projected to Witness Lucrative Growth Over the Coming Decade

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According to latest research estimates, portable fuel cells market is projected to witness lucrative growth over the coming decade. Demand will witness sharp recovery with optimistic growth outlook in the long-run. Rising prominence of electric vehicles is projected to ascend the growth in demand over the forecast period.

What is Driving Demand for portable Fuel Cells

The rapid surge in demand for unconventional energy sources is one of the primary driving factor for the demand growth.  Increasing concerns headed for zero ecological impact are vital aspects influencing the demand for portable fuel cells. In addition, ease of application and eco-friendly nature also paves the way for growth in consumption.

Being one of the most vibrant sectors of the economy, rapid surge in the growth of the electronic industry has prompted substantial changes in the investments in electronic manufacturing industry and hence fueling significant demand.

Eco-friendly objectives to eliminate emission rates and boosting regulations by the government authorities in developed countries are augmenting the demand for hydrogen power plants during the forecast period. Subsequently, resulting in upsurge in consumption of portable fuel cells over the coming years.

Additional pivotal element for the growth in demand for portable fuel cells is the availability of various fuels that can be implemented in fuel cells. Ethanol, Methanol, butane, hydrogen, and diesel are some of the most common fuels used in portable fuel cells.

The relatively easy acquisition of hydrocarbon fuels is creating positive prospects for demand growth by making them affordable and easier.

Rising Investments in Smart Grids to Augment Portable Fuel Cells Consumption

On accounts of substantial efforts by government authorities for power grid enhancements in order to create easy availability of grid power in previously unreachable areas.

Additionally, the adoption and development of smart cities is compelling the integration of smart grids implemented with IoT based connecting technologies.

These are impelling the use of locally small scale self-sustainable energy generation techniques such as wind, hydropower, solar have become cheaper and viable option for portable fuel cells.

The versatile benefits related to portable fuel cells such as improved storage and energy efficiencies, zero emissions and mobility among other coupled with the rising research & development activities by the manufacturers are paving the way for market growth during the forecast period.

Asia Pacific Market Growth Outlook

Asia Pacific region is anticipated to witness robust growth over the coming years, owing to increasing innovations in consumer electronics and prominence of electric vehicles in the countries such as China, Japan, etc.

Europe Market Overview

The European countries such as Germany, UK, Norway, Netherlands, etc. are among few major investors in the fuel cell powered vehicles.

Correspondingly, resulting in increased consumption of portable fuel cells during the forecast years. For instance, 23 European countries formed a collaboration on the HyLAW EU Project, targeted for recognizing and removing legal and administrative obstructions for the deployment of hydrogen fuel cells and hydrogen applications.

Furthermore, activities for research and product development regarding utilities and autonomous vehicles in defense sector have propelled in recent few years. The high focus on the using clean energy sources has resulted in increase in the investments in generating electricity using fuel cells.

ammonia
Archives, Global Trade Daily, News

The Low-Carbon Agenda and the Rising Demand for Innovative Fuels to Drive the Global Ammonia Market

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IndexBox has just published a new report: ‘World – Anhydrous Ammonia – Market Analysis, Forecast, Size, Trends, and Insights’. Here is a summary of the report’s key findings.

Ammonia constitutes one of the world’s basic chemical products widely important for its use as a raw material for the production of mineral fertilizers, nitric acid, explosives, and polymers. Agricultural fertilizers account for near 80% of the world’s ammonia use.

Due to the continuous growth of the world’s population and a stable increase in world GDP, the need for crop-based foods and animal feed is rising, which is a key fundamental factor in the growth of demand for ammonia.

The global ammonia market stood at  $90.7B, according to IndexBox estimates. Global consumption peaked at $100.7B in 2013; however, from 2014 to 2019, consumption remained at a lower figure. In physical terms, global ammonia consumption was estimated at approximately 182M tonnes in 2019, declining slightly against the previous year.

In early 2020, the global economy entered a period of the crisis caused by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The quarantine measures that put on halt production and transport activity disrupted economic growth heavily throughout the world. According to World Bank forecasts, despite the gradual relaxing of restrictive measures and unprecedented government support in countries that faced the pandemic in early 2020, the annual decline of global GDP could amount to -4.3%, which is the deepest global recession being seen over the past eight decades.

However, the ammonia market remains relatively resilient to the pandemic. In the second quarter of 2020, there was a slight drop in demand from mineral fertilizer producers due to the introduced isolation regime and a shortage of labor, many regions missed handling the spring sowing season. After the lifting of restrictive measures, the demand for ammonia recovered, and companies adapted to new conditions of supply chains and sales channels.

China (48M tonnes) remains the largest ammonia-consuming country worldwide, accounting for 27% of the total volume. Moreover, ammonia consumption in China exceeded the figures recorded by the second-largest consumer, the U.S. (21M tonnes), twofold. India (19M tonnes) ranked third in terms of total consumption with a 10% share.

In China, ammonia consumption contracted by an average annual rate of -2.4% over the period from 2012-2019. The remaining consuming countries recorded the following average annual rates of consumption growth: the U.S. (+2.7% per year) and India (+2.6% per year).

In value terms, China ($33.4B) led the market, alone. The second position in the ranking was occupied by India ($12.1B). It was followed by the U.S.

With the pandemic’s impact, it is expected that in 2020, global consumption of ammonia should remain nearly unchanged against 2019. In the medium term, as the global economy gets back to work, the market will start recovering, driven by major fundamentals that existed before the crisis. Overall, market performance is forecast to pursue a positive trend over the next decade, expanding with an anticipated CAGR of +0.4% for the period from 2019 to 2030, which is projected to bring the market volume to 191 M tonnes by the end of 2030 (IndexBox estimates).

New areas of industrial use of ammonia are emerging, which are becoming increasingly relevant in the context of increased attention to environmental protection and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Standard industrial synthesis of ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen from methane produces more carbon dioxide than many other chemical industries. The largest producers are developing the production of “green ammonia” and positioning it as a more environmentally friendly product in comparison with conventional ammonia.

Another promising opportunity for the use of ammonia is its use as a carbon-free fuel. Compared to hydrogen, ammonia has the advantage of being easier to transport and store because a large amount of energy could be stored in smaller volumes of a substance.

Given this background, Japan is considering replacing coal fuel for power plants with ammonia, and it is also emerging as a marine fuel. Ammonia as an energy source complies with the new IMO 2020 requirements that limit the sulfur content in bunker fuel and will reduce CO2 emissions to target environmental indicators.

Increased attention to the regulation of carbon emissions in the EU and large-scale measures under the Green Deal action plan, as well as the return of the United States to the Paris Climate Agreement, should contribute to the search for alternative fuels, including ammonia, and transforming energy markets. If promising technologies of ammonia fuel become widespread in the industry, the growth of production of low-carbon fuel may become a new driver of the world ammonia market in the medium and long term.

The changes in the ‘green’ legislation could potentially lead to market transformations in the energy sector. In connection with the announcement by the European Union of plans to introduce a cross-border carbon tax, many countries that do not produce “green” ammonia may lose their positions in the European sales market. In the medium term, this situation will force producers to restructure their processes towards obtaining “green” ammonia and may lead to significant shifts in the structure of the global ammonia value chain.

Source: IndexBox AI Platform