Reducing Carbon Emissions in the Supply Chain

Working at IBM, or any job for that matter, has its pluses and minuses. One of the pluses for me is the access I have to IBM's $5 billion research organization. At the pound of a few digits on the phone I can speak with some of the smartest people in the world.

Last week I discovered that some of these geniuses are have developed a tool that IBM is testing within its own supply chain to help reduce carbon emissions. While I don't want to spoil the results and findings of the paper that will be presented next months, the tool lets the user run "what if" scenarios until the nth degree. For example, if you need to ship a 4.7 pound package from Mexico to New York the tool can determine the carbon footprint based on route, mode of transportation and even the type of engine of the car, boat or plane. The user can then get a recommendation from the tool based on the most earth friendly mode. How cool is that?

I'll disclose more and share the finding of the report later next month.