Relationship between enterprise supply chain security and carbon emissions

Carbon emissions, technology upgradation and financing risk of the green supply chain competition

Supply-chain-based organisations are nowadays facing intense pressure to abide to environmental regulatory requirements while they are striving to be responsive to customers’ needs at the least cost possible. As supply chain activities are among the top contributors to carbon emissions, several recent research works have investigated the impact of carbon regulation policies on economic and environmental supply chain performance. This paper presents integrated economic and environmental models for the one-vendor one-buyer supply chain problem under a vendor managed consignment inventory (VMCI) arrangement. Through the developed models, we study the impacts of two carbon reduction policies, namely carbon cap and carbon tax policies, on supply chain wide costs and carbon emissions. We first provide a much simpler and more compact formulation for the basic single-vendor single-buyer supply chain under VMCI agreement. We also present an environmental-based VMCI model where reduction of carbon footprint is considered as the only objective function. We then extend these two basic models to include each of the two carbon emissions reduction policies. We identify structural properties for the optimal solutions of the two hybrid economic and environmental models and propose algorithms to generate optimal solutions. The results of the computational experiments reveal that the implementation of carbon reduction policies, through carbon cap and carbon tax, may call for the adjustment of the vendor’s production and buyer’s delivery quantities to reduce carbon footprint without significantly increasing the operational costs.

Supply chain scheduling strategies historically have emphasized lead time; in almost all cases, energy and environmental factors have not been considered in scheduling. This article presents a new mathematical programming model of the supply chain scheduling problem that considers CO2 emissions and their associated carbon footprint in addition to lead time. To model the problem we chose the job shop theoretical model in which each machine represents a supply chain member and jobs represent the product batches. The new model is demonstrated using a simple case study: a supply chain in which two plants are employed to produce a variety of parts. We illustrate how carbon emissions concerns can be integrated into operational decision making with regards to production and financial flows. The results show that carbon emissions across stages in a supply chain can constitute a significant threat that merits careful attention in the operational planning of supply chains.

Sustainable supply chain models and carbon emissions tracking are two of the most talked-about subjects in today's world. Models of cost-based freight transportation are being developed to help operations and supply chain management in addressing the “last-mile challenge”. Carbon emissions are being included into these models. These models can aid decision-makers in increasing the management's aim to reduce carbon emissions to the greatest extent possible. This research provides a framework for evaluating an appropriate trade-off between transportation costs and carbon emissions by comparing the best solutions that emerge from the use of alternative delivery systems.

Carbon emission is a concern across the industry due to its environmental impact. In order to reduce carbon emissions, industry have to look not only at their processes but also in the generation of emissions in the whole supply chain that it belongs to. This is more necessary when various forms of carbon emissions policies are faced by the industry. The current focus on research is either in the economics of supply chain or mainly on the forward or reverse supply chains when it pertains to the carbon emissions. However, as lifecycle of the product is also becoming important, the isolated treatment of supply chains should be avoided for an integrated (forward and reverse) supply chain, also called the closed loop supply chain (CLSC). The complexity arises when the supply chain is faced with different kind of carbon policies implemented by the governments, for example, carbon tax, carbon cap, and carbon-cap and tax. The design of CLSC may change with the change in the carbon emission policy. In this research, a stochastic model is developed for the design of a CLSC by considering carbon emission policies. This work is one of the first attempts to understand the implication of carbon emission policy on the design of a CLSC. The model is applied to a sample case of aluminum industry with a life cycle assessment of emission.Our preliminary findings include:(1) When the more scenarios are taken into account, the total cost and emission would increase, because more uncertain information is considered in CSSC design.(2) Given the same carbon cap, in a broad sense, the amount of emission credit traded in market changes in line with the total emission. It indicates that the emission trading is determined by the actual emission rather than the carbon price, even the uncertain carbon price is considered. However, a higher emission does not always lead to a bigger amount of emission to be traded.(3) The network structure obtained by the deterministic formulation is not able to be easily adapted to changes in demand and supply.(4) In order to deal with the uncertain demand, the CLSC has to enlarge its handling capacity by using the facilities with a higher capacity or incorporating more facilities with the same function. With the same purpose, the supplier selection decisions are also changed associate the increasing scenarios.(5) The fuel of diesel is selected regardless of the scenarios. It means the current carbon price level would not motivate the firms to gain profit or reduce costs by employing future fuels in transportation. This conclusion is also proved by the further investigation when the total cost and emission are observed under decreasing cap. A further investigation reveals the transportation mode doesn't change when the carbon price increase from 9 to 234. Consequently, the future fuels would be attractive to firms only when the transportation price reduced or other policy environment changes, such as government subsidy. The efforts in reducing the transportation cost with future fuels have never ceased and the advanced technologies in automobile industry provide opportunity for green transportation promoters.

Production and joint emission reduction decisions based on two-way cost-sharing contract under cap-and-trade regulation

The proposal of China’s dual carbon strategy is not only a kind of pressure but also an opportunity for enterprises. Both upstream and downstream enterprises in the supply chain pay more attention to carbon emission reduction, and consumers are gradually turning to a low-carbon preference. How carbon reduction targets are allocated among supply chain members with different technical efficiency and market opportunities will directly affect supply chain performance and social welfare. Power structure is an important factor that dominates the decision-making of the supply chain, so we establish the low-carbon supply chain model under three different power structures: manufacturer-led, retailer-led, and power pairs between two parties. We study the government distribution decisions of carbon emissions reduction targets under different supply chain power structures and discuss the influence of supply chain power structures on carbon emissions reduction distribution decisions and social welfare. The study found that if the carbon emissions reduction target increases, the government will adjust the allocation strategy to increase the proportion of enterprises whose emissions cuts have less impact on market demand. The study also found that the government will allocate more emissions reduction to enterprises with higher emissions reduction efficiency, and enterprises whose emissions reductions have a greater impact on market demand. When supply chain enterprises have equal power, the supply chain will have greater social welfare and market demand, but not necessarily greater supply chain profits.

The rapid development of the global transportation industry has led to increased carbon dioxide emissions, intensifying the pressure to reduce these emissions. On the basis of constructing a global carbon emission analysis framework for the transportation industry, this study used panel data on carbon emissions from the transportation industry in 140 countries or regions for a long-term time series from 1971 to 2018. The standard deviation ellipse, Gini coefficient, and Moran’s I index were used to characterize the spatial patterns of carbon emissions in the global transportation industry. The factors influencing carbon emissions from the global transportation industry were analyzed using quantile regression. The main findings are as follows: (1) From the distribution pattern, the total carbon emissions from the global transportation industry showed a significant upward trend, and the spatial polarization characteristics were particularly significant. (2) The Gini coefficient of global carbon emissions from the transportation industry showed a significant downward trend, characterizing a more balanced spatial distribution. (3) From the perspective of correlation patterns, the spatial distribution of carbon emissions from the global transportation industry was positively correlated. (4) Regarding influencing factors, population size had a significant role in promoting carbon emissions from the transportation industry, and the difference was not apparent. The influence of affluence on carbon emissions was basically in line with the characteristics of the Kuznets curve, technological advances had a significant negative influence on carbon emissions, and participation in the global value chain had a significant influence on carbon emissions from countries or regions with high carbon emissions. In conclusion, it is necessary to enhance international cooperation on carbon emission management in the global transportation industry and adopt differentiated policy measures. For instance, we should accelerate the construction of a multimodal transport system, increase the promotion and support for new energy heavy-duty trucks, implement policies such as priority road rights for new energy heavy-duty trucks and reduce tolls on expressways, and deepen the integration of transportation and energy.

Sustainable development, which integrates economic progress with environmental stewardship to serve societal needs, seeks a balanced approach to resource utilization and intergenerational equity. Implementing carbon policies to limit emissions in production is an effective measure that also puts pressure on the supply chain’s profitability. Meanwhile, the emergence of the price reference effect affects consumers’ behavior and the decisions of supply chain members. This study constructs a dual-channel supply chain model under three carbon policy scenarios within a manufacturer-led Stackelberg game framework. The model is solved analytically to examine equilibrium outcomes and investigate the influence of channel competition, the price reference effect, and carbon policies on profitability and carbon emissions across different scenarios. The results are as follows. (1) As consumers’ online channel preference increases, manufacturers’ profits turn from falling to rising, especially under a lower carbon tax (higher carbon quota), with profit growing earlier. (2) A stronger price reference effect encourages higher emission reduction efforts, selling prices, and profits in smaller markets. However, this effect can reduce prices and profits due to increased competition and pricing pressure in larger markets. (3) The influence of carbon tax and emission quota on emission reduction and price depends on the initial carbon emission of the product, and their interaction has different impacts on total profits at different initial emission levels. (4) Within the mixed policy, the supply chain can obtain better economic and environmental benefits at a specific range of basic market demand. This study provides valuable references for formulating tactics to cope with low-carbon demand and price reference effects, as well as for developing effective environmental protection policies.

This study analyzes the publication trend, most active contributors, most influential publications and trending research topics on the current context of carbon footprint and supply chains. The study conducted a bibliometric analysis of 809 documents retrieved from Scopus, published between 2019 and 2023, to identify trends, contributors, top publications, and trending topics. With the help of Harzing’s Publish or Perish and VOSviewer, the study employed performance analysis and keyword co-occurrence analysis. The study reveals an upward trajectory in the number of publications in this research domain. Additionally, the study identifies several themes through keyword co-occurrence analysis, including ‘the application of regulatory mechanisms and game theory in carbon emission reductions,’ ‘strategies and mechanisms for enhancing low-carbon initiatives within supply chains,’ ‘the development and optimization of sustainable supply chain systems to reduce carbon emissions,’ ‘the use of simulation and optimization models for CO2 emission reduction in supply chain and logistics operations,’ ‘financial legislation and mechanisms for improving carbon emission reductions,’ ‘the impact of logistics and supply chain operations on carbon emissions and climate change,’ and ‘the carbon footprint in supply chains and cold chain logistics operations.’ This review emphasizes the need of adopting low-carbon technologies to enhance sustainable practices within supply chains. The study highlights the role of advanced technologies in efforts linked to carbon reduction. The study also advocates for a multifaceted policy approach, including encouraging innovation, and implementing financial mechanisms to reduce carbon emissions, especially in logistics and supply chain operations.

Using relatively simple and widely used models, we illustrate how carbon emission concerns could be integrated into operational decision-making with regard to procurement, production, and inventory management. We show how, by associating carbon emission parameters with various decision variables, traditional models can be modified to support decision-making that accounts for both cost and carbon footprint. We examine how the values of these parameters as well as the parameters of regulatory emission control policies affect cost and emissions. We use the models to study the extent to which carbon reduction requirements can be addressed by operational adjustments, as an alternative (or a supplement) to costly investments in carbon-reducing technologies. We also use the models to investigate the impact of collaboration among firms within the same supply chain on their costs and carbon emissions and study the incentives firms might have in seeking such cooperation. We provide a series of insights that highlight the impact of operational decisions on carbon emissions and the importance of operational models in evaluating the impact of different regulatory policies and in assessing the benefits of investments in more carbon efficient technologies. Note to Practitioners-Firms worldwide, responding to the threat of government legislation or to concerns raised by their own consumers or shareholders, are undertaking initiatives to reduce their carbon footprint. It is the conventional thinking that such initiatives will require either capital investments or a switch to more expensive sources of energy or input material. In this paper, we show that firms could effectively reduce their carbon emissions without significantly increasing their costs by making only operational adjustments and by collaborating with other members of their supply chain. We describe optimization models that can be used by firms to support operational decision making and supply chain collaboration, while taking into account carbon emissions. We analyze the effect of different emission regulations, including strict emission caps, taxes on emissions, cap-and-offset, and cap-and-trade, on supply chain management decisions. In particular, we show that the presence of emission regulation can significantly increase the value of supply chain collaboration.

Under the global drive for net-zero emission targets, the importance of natural gas is further highlighted. Due to its lower absolute emissions, natural gas is seen as an ideal bridge in the transition to a future powered by renewable energy. The development of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from extraction, liquefaction, transportation, to regasification, produces carbon emissions at every stage. The carbon emissions at each stage have a profound impact on the carbon footprint of LNG projects. Understanding and scientifically quantifying the carbon emissions at each stage are not only key steps in optimizing the energy structure but also crucial to achieving the goal of global net-zero emissions. Only through a refined carbon emission accounting model, which studies the impact of carbon emission costs on the economics of the LNG supply chain, can we provide ideas for optimizing the benefits of LNG projects and formulating emission reduction strategies. Using an A LNG development project as a case study, we selected the upstream and midstream industries of its supply chain as research targets, set the carbon emission boundary, and sorted out the carbon emission sources at different stages. We analyzed and studied the carbon emissions during the drilling, production, gathering and transportation, and liquefaction stages of coalbed methane development process, thereby establishing a carbon emission accounting model. According to the above accounting model, emission factors were determined, the carbon emissions during the development process were calculated, and based on the understanding of the future carbon market, carbon prices were predicted. Finally, the carbon cost calculation module was embedded in the economic evaluation model to study the impact of carbon emissions on economic benefits. A sensitivity analysis was conducted on various factors including Capex, Opex, Oil Price, Production, Carbon price, and Carbon emission factor in the economic evaluation. We found that carbon pricing had a larger impact on the project's life-cycle IRR than the carbon emission factor. By performing a breakeven analysis on carbon liability, we calculated the breakeven carbon price for carbon liability. For each stage of the upstream and midstream of the LNG project supply chain, a carbon emission accounting model was established and embedded in the economic evaluation model.

Considering that both the manufacturer's production process and the transporter's freight process produce carbon emissions, this paper constructed a three-echelon supply chain composed of a manufacturer, a transporter, and a retailer. This article studies the cooperative carbon emission reduction among the supply chain members under the carbon cap-and-trade policy and consumer environmental awareness. We used the Stackelberg game to explore four scenarios as follows: (1) in the non-cooperative decision model, no cooperation takes place among all supply chain members; (2) in the local cooperation decision of the manufacturer and the transporter alliance model, the manufacturer and the transporter work together to make decisions reducing carbon emissions, but each member of the supply chain makes its own pricing decisions; (3) in the local cooperation decision of the retailer-transporter alliance model, there is no cooperation except that the retailer and the transporter cooperate with each other to determine the selling price of the product; and (4) in the overall-cooperative decision model, there is complete cooperation among the members of the supply chain, who collectively decide on carbon emission reduction and the selling price of the product. Then, using the backward induction method, we derived and compared the equilibrium solutions and the profits of the supply chain system. The results showed that the scenario of complete cooperation among all supply chain members had the best performance in carbon emission reduction, market equilibrium quantity, and the supply chain system's profit, but the selling price of the product was likely to be higher than other scenarios. Two contracts have been proposed to coordinate the supply chain system. The cost-sharing contract is effective but imperfect under limited constraints. The two-part tariff contract can realize perfect coordination of the supply chain. Finally, we obtained several interesting conclusions from the numerical example and provide managerial insights and policy implications from the analytical results.

ABSTRACTForest biomass can be used as source of renewable energy, contributing to mitigate climate change. Currently, forest biomass is one of the most important energy sources in Sweden, accounting for around 20% of the total supply. New demands of forest biomass may be expected due to the European Union energy targets, the previous high oil prices, the energy supply security, and the bioenergy market. However, the supply depends on the intensity of conventional final felling operations. Thus, it is crucial to determine the energy demands of conventional and new forest assortment supply chains and promote those with the highest energy efficiency and least greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. An attributional life cycle assessment approach was used to evaluate the fuel consumption and GHG emissions associated with the combustion of fossil fuels used in forest operations, transportation and comminution of forest biomass procured via two kinds of supply chains in Northern Sweden: conventional and integrated. The results indicate that most fuel was consumed in transportation processes. The integrated supply chains (in which the harvesting of industrial roundwood is integrated with extraction of forest fuels) are more energy efficient than conventional supply chains, and have the potential to reduce GHG emissions by approximately 13%.Abbreviation: BWT: bundled whole small trees; CTL: Cut-to-length; ET: energy thinning; FF: final felling; FT: first thinning; FU: functional unit; GHG: greenhouse gas; GWP: global warming potential; LCA: life cycle assessment; LR: logging residues; LT: long tops; ODt: oven dry tonne; ORN: Örnsköldsvik (industrial location); PCT: pre-commercial thinning; PL: pulpwood; PM15h: Productive machine hours including delays shorter than 15 min; RS: Rough-delimbed tree sections; SC: stump core; SL: sawlogs; SP: stumps; ST: second thinning; STO: Storuman (industrial location); u.b: under bark; UME: Umeå (industrial location)

China is currently the largest carbon emission country in the world. In China, the power industry’s carbon emissions accounted for more than 40% of the total. Moreover, annual electricity consumption is still rising, increasing by 6% to 9.15 trillion kWh in 2023. Therefore, the carbon emission reduction of the power industry is particularly important for achieving the goals of carbon neutrality and carbon peaking in China. From the perspective of the life cycle, the power industry can be divided into three major phases: the generation side, the transmission side, and the consumption side. Starting from these three phases, this paper constructs a life cycle carbon emission model of power systems, incorporating digital monitoring technology to realize the real-time monitoring and management of carbon emissions from power systems in China. On the consumption side, this paper selects the liquor industry in Guizhou as a typical case. It calculates the carbon emissions of some units with a capacity of 6000 kW and above in Guizhou in a month by constructing a carbon emission model. The realization of real-time carbon emission monitoring of the power grid will help the power industry achieve the goal of “dual carbon” at an early date.