The global economy is in the process of constructing a new index, based on carbon emissions. The recent Summit on Climate Change held in Bali revealed multinational political and commercial commitment to carbon emissions reduction. In essence, future business survival will be underpinned by carbon efficiency, more specifically, how little carbon any given enterprise emits, writes Paul Collings.

The old saying, "you can't manage what you don't measure" holds true in this instance. If business is to report on its carbon 'footprint', it will have to implement technologies capable of measuring its CO2 emissions. For the local trucking industry, this may seem like a pipe dream, better left to the technocrats at the automotive laboratory. 
Not so. South African telematics pioneer, OmniBridge (a division of the newly formed Telematrix Group) has partnered with UK-based automotive technology group, Lysanda, to market a "carbon emissions measurement and reporting solution for fleet managers," says OmniBridge managing director, Charles Tasker.

"The solution is designed to prove compliance with environmental strategies and regulations. It will enable fleet managers to accurately measure and report the carbon emissions of their fleet of vehicles," he says. ""Companies around the world will begin to position themselves as 'green' by dealing with environmentally friendly companies that comply with either company or industry imposed environmental regulations and policies."
 

According to Lysanda CEO and founder, Alex Willard, "current methods of monitoring and controlling exhaust emissions are failing to keep pollution in check and new legislation is pending in the UK and other EU countries to introduce much tighter emission controls. Our technology generates accurate statistics by calculating what the emissions would be from the various inputs from the engine, rather than directly measuring the exhaust itself." 

The partnership will enable fleet managers to remotely access a continuous stream of data on fuel consumption and carbon emissions from any vehicle in its fleet by integrating Lysanda's Eco-Log on-board computer with OmniBridge's FM 300 fleet management solution, Tasker says. "Initial use will be within the fleet industry where the system can identify heavy-footed drivers, helping to cut fuel consumption and a company's carbon emissions. The joint-solution will be launched by both companies at the Commercial Vehicle Show in Birmingham UK in April 2008, before rolling out globally across OmniBridge's network of resellers and distributors in 75 countries."