Case Study: Gunvor

When a key customer requested their supply chain emissions data, Gunvor Group needed CarbonChain’s support. Within a month, we helped them quantify, understand, and report the carbon footprint and intensity of their commodity trading supply chains. Now they’re using CarbonChain’s platform to automate their emissions tracking, for ongoing reporting and improvement.

As Gunvor continues to accurately measure and adequately address its emissions impact, CarbonChain’s detailed carbon accounting has enabled us to define a clear path forward for our supply chains within the Energy Transition.

Elsa Pernot

Group HSEC Director, Gunvor

The Client: Gunvor Group Ltd

Gunvor Group is one of the world’s largest independent commodities trading houses by turnover, creating logistics solutions that safely and efficiently move physical energy and bulk materials from where they are sourced and stored to where they are demanded most.

The Challenge: Commodity trade customers want supply chain emissions data

Gunvor is a global leader in naphtha trading. In 2021, one of their most important customers asked them to provide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions data for all their naphtha trades, covering the whole supply chain from extraction of crude oil and condensate through to delivery of naphtha at the customer gate.

Reporting this data would be no easy feat. Gunvor had little information about their supply chain emissions. They had some calculations for their own vessels, but nothing for upstream oil and gas activities or for the processing of oil into naphtha, other than for their own refineries.

logistics worker next to cargo in a flight path

To calculate the entire supply chain carbon footprint for every trade, Gunvor would have needed to gather raw data from a variety of sources, and get access to time-sensitive, asset-level GHG emissions information that was extremely difficult, expensive or impossible to obtain.

This process - and the subsequent data analysis, calculation, and reporting - was set to be a huge challenge, as well as a cost and time burden. That’s when Gunvor turned to CarbonChain.

The Process Accurate and complete carbon footprinting, saving time and money

Using CarbonChain was smooth and frictionless. In just one month, they helped us extract all the raw data from our systems, produced a clear, insightful emissions report, and helped us deliver the information to our customer in the format required

Frederic Meeus

Global Head of Naphtha and LPG, Gunvor

Between September and October 2021, CarbonChain ran a carbon accounting pilot with Gunvor to help them meet their customer’s demand for disclosure.

First, we helped Gunvor’s busy logistics and naphtha trading teams export all the relevant raw data from their internal systems, easing their data-gathering burden.

Then, using our AI-powered carbon accounting software, we provided Gunvor with their emissions calculations. We analyzed and organized the data into a tangible per-cargo analysis of each trade’s emissions. All GHG emissions were included, calculated as carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e).

This gave Gunvor a comprehensive overall supply chain carbon footprint report, as well as a trade-by-trade analysis, which we helped crystallize into the specific format that their customer needed. Based on an independent database, the report can be audited and certified.

Following this pilot, we set Gunvor up on CarbonChain’s cloud-based carbon accounting platform for automated, ongoing emissions tracking.

The Results: PRECISE REPORTING AND INSIGHTS FOR DATA-LED ACTION

For the first time, we understand the carbon intensity of our trades. Thanks to CarbonChain, we’ve not only fulfilled customer reporting requirements, but now we can continue to monitor our trade portfolio footprint, and work towards environmentally-responsible supply chains.

Elsa Pernot

Group HSEC Director, Gunvor

CarbonChain provided three key benefits for Gunvor:

Compliance, on time, with their customer's reporting demand

Gunvor submitted the report in the required format with the necessary level of accuracy and granularity, avoiding time and cost inefficiency, and reducing the risk of incomplete, inaccurate data.

3 construction workers next to solar panels

Two logistics workers writing reports in a warehouse

New actionable insights for their journey towards lower-carbon trading

For the first time, Gunvor got a quantified average carbon intensity for their naphtha trades, to use as a benchmark and inform their lower-carbon trading goals.

CarbonChain helped Gunvor differentiate between their Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. For some trades, Gunvor owns the upstream oil refineries. In those cases, they need to categorize the refinery’s emissions as Scope 1 and 2, whereas for all other trades those emissions come under Scope 3. By understanding and correctly categorizing these emissions, Gunvor can robustly track, report, and progress towards emissions reductions targets for each scope.

Gunvor gained insight into the large emissions variation between naphtha sources according to geography. Data revealed the countries with higher average emissions intensities, mostly due to poor flaring track records.

Automated ongoing internal emissions tracking

Going forward, Gunvor can directly upload raw supply chain documentation onto the CarbonChain platform. Our AI-powered technology will quantify the carbon footprint with asset-level breakdowns for each trade, making tracking, reporting, and target-setting easier.