Page 156 - Ecuador's Banana Sector under Climate Change

ecuador’s banana sector under climate change: an economic and biophysical assessment to promote a sustainable and climate-compatible strategy
2009:131, Table 9.1). Note that the IMO study only includes CO2 emissions, while the LCAs indicate CO2e values. The LCA study, undertaken by CBI, explains the high emission rates for bananas:
According to Craig et al. (2012:8),
“Bananas are brought to market in specific vessels that are smaller than the normal large container ships used for transoceanic freight. The higher emissions of CBI’s ocean operations are attributable to a number of factors, including smaller vessels, lower utilization on the backhaul, and higher sailing speeds. Cargo on the backhaul portion of the voyage represents only 22 percent of total tonnes shipped, and can be as low as 7 percent for certain rotations.”
Banana ships sail faster than normal container ships, since the bananas are more perishable than most cargo. The smaller size of these ships relates to the steady flow of bananas, from harvest to consumption - as well as the capacity of ripening centres.53 There are obvious scales of efficiency in ocean shipping. A shift to a 2 500-TEU container ship would reduce emissions by over 40 percent. The total volume of banana shipments to major markets (Japan, North America and Northern Europe) would justify the use of larger vessels, but this capacity would require current rival shipping firms to coordinate or pool their shipments.54 The gains from horizontal supply chain pooling banana would fall short of those gains reported by Ballot and Fontane (2010) relating to retailers in France. Since a cargo imbalance would be much greater for banana shipping routes, it would be necessary to reposition the refrigerated containers at banana export points. Larger ships would require even greater backward vertical coordination with producers and forward vertical coordination with distributors and major retail chains. The capacity for handling to facilitate larger shipments also may need to be expanded.
4.2 Domestic transportation
GHG emissions from farm to port in Ecuador are due, almost entirely, to transportation and the use of petroleum-based fuels. From a study by Hospido and Roibás (Chapter 4), Figure 49 plots the carbon footprint of the domestic transportation of bananas from a range of producers in Ecuador. The average carbon footprint is 20 kg-CO2e per tonne. Some banana producers pass through an intermediate depot, others ship directly to port. Emissions increase with distance, ranging from 10 to 60 kg-CO2e per tonne.
An emission tax - based on USD 30 per tonne of CO2e - on petroleum fuels would be approximately 7 cents per litre; the precise value would depend on the
53 A large amount of literature exists relating to research on maritime GHG abatement. A recent survey was undertaken by Psaraftis and Kontovas (2013).
54 A study of banana maritime transportation along the lines of Ballot and Fontane (2010) would be worthwhile. Rodrigue et al. (2013) have presented a good review of transport issues with regard to bananas.
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