Intermodal Freight ADD-ONADD-ON
Climatiq allows you to use emission factors from the Global Logistics Emissions Council(GLEC) (opens in a new tab) to calculate the carbon emissions for shipping freight around the world using multiple modes of transport such as by sea, air, road or rail.
Estimate
POST Calculate total estimated emissions produced by shipping an amount of cargo by the specified route. This endpoint still has a few limitations. More information here.
It is also recommended that you check out the guide, which provides an introduction to using the endpoint and details some of the flexibility it offers.
https://beta4.api.climatiq.io/freight/intermodalRequest
The following parameters can be defined as JSON-encoded object in the body.
| Required | |
|---|---|
| cargo Unit type Weight The weight of the cargo being shipped | required |
| route [Route Leg or Location] An array of route parts that compose the route this cargo is taking. A route must start and end with a location, and have legs between each location. Sometimes you may omit some locations and rely on automatic routing. | required |
curl --request POST \--url https://beta4.api.climatiq.io/freight/intermodal \--header 'Authorization: Bearer API_KEY' \--data '{ "route": [ { "location": { "query": "Hamburg" } }, { "transport_mode": "road", "leg_details": { "vehicle_type": "van", "vehicle_weight": "lte_3.5t" } }, { "location": { "query": "Berlin" } } ], "cargo": { "weight": 10, "weight_unit": "t" }}'Response
A response consists of the following attributes.
| Response attributes |
|---|
| co2e number The carbon dioxide equivalent emitted for the entire trip. |
| co2e_unit string The unit in which the CO2e field is expressed. Is always kg |
| distance_km number The distance in kilometers that the cargo has been shipped along the specified route. |
| route [ResponseLocation or ResponseLeg] An array that specifies the route the cargo took. This array will always consist of alternating response locations and response legs. It will always start and end with a location. Even if you have omitted any locations, they will not be omitted in the response. |
| notices [Notice] An array of notices that is relevant for understanding the result. This could be if Climatiq cannot accurately calculate the distance for a certain route, but still performed a less-accurate calculation. |
{ "co2e": 1946.8196000000003, "co2e_unit": "kg", "distance_km": 286.297, "route": [ { "type": "location", "name": "Hamburg, Germany", "latitude": 53.55562, "longitude": 9.98745, "confidence_score": 1 }, { "type": "leg", "co2e": 1946.8196000000003, "co2e_unit": "kg", "transport_mode": "road", "distance_km": 286.297, "estimates": [ { "co2e": 1946.8196000000003, "co2e_unit": "kg", "co2e_calculation_method": "ar4", "co2e_calculation_origin": "source", "emission_factor": { "name": "Van =< 3.5 t", "activity_id": "freight_vehicle-vehicle_type_van-fuel_source_na-vehicle_weight_lte_3.5t-distance_uplift_included", "id": "221b2e08-6bf6-4c21-8357-4ca3bfa135ca", "access_type": "public", "source": "GLEC", "source_dataset": "Default Fuel Efficiency and CO2e Intensity Factors", "year": 2019, "region": "EU_S_AMERICA", "category": "Road Freight", "source_lca_activity": "well_to_wheel", "data_quality_flags": [] }, "constituent_gases": { "co2e_total": 1946.8196000000003, "co2e_other": null, "co2": null, "ch4": null, "n2o": null }, "activity_data": { "activity_value": 2862.9700000000003, "activity_unit": "tonne-km" }, "audit_trail": "enabled" } ] }, { "type": "location", "name": "Berlin, Germany", "latitude": 52.51604, "longitude": 13.37691, "confidence_score": 1 } ], "notices": []}Route Leg
Each route in the request has one or more legs. A leg is a transition between two locations. A leg contains the following properties.
| Request leg attributes | Required |
|---|---|
| tranport_mode string How the goods are transported. Allowed values are air, sea, road, rail | required |
| leg_details object The details of the leg such as fuel and vessel type. Valid values here vary between transport_mode. Allowed values are RoadDetails, SeaDetails, AirDetails or RailDetails. | optional |
| distance_km number If you have an actual distance for this leg in kilometers you can input the distance here. Climatiq will then use this distance instead of the planned distance it would normally calculate. If you are calculating your own planned distance you can also supply it here. However to comply with the GLEC framework you should multiply any actual distances provided by 1.05263 for road travel and 1.17647 for sea travel. Adjustments for other modes of transportation are not needed. | optional |
Road
A leg with the "transport_mode": "road", can specify further details about the journey by including this object under leg_details.
Different vehicle_types have different requirements and options. As an example, for some vehicle types, the parameter fuel_source might be optional, and for some it might not be.
| Attributes | Required | Default |
|---|---|---|
| vehicle_type string The type of vehicle that is used for the transportation. The values have a few abbreviations such as hgv meaning heavy goods vehicle (opens in a new tab) and mgv meaning medium goods vehicle (opens in a new tab). articulated and rigid refers to truck types (opens in a new tab). refrigerated refers to whether or not the cargo is refrigerated. All valid values are: auto_carrier, dray, expedited, flatbed, general, heavy_bulk, hgv_articulated, hgv_articulated_hpdi, hgv_articulated_hpdi_refrigerated, hgv_articulated_refrigerated, hgv_articulated_si_engine, hgv_articulated_si_engine_refrigerated, hgv_rigid, hgv_rigid_refrigerated, mgv_refrigerated, hgv_refrigerated, ltl_or_dry_van, mixed, moving, package, refrigerated, specialized, tanker, tl_or_dry_van, van, van_refrigerated, hgv, mgv, urban_truck, urban_truck_refrigerated | required | North America: general,Rest of World: hgv |
| vehicle_weight string The carrying capacity of the vehicle, as a string specifying the range. E.g. gt_60t_lt_72t means a carrying capacity greater than 60tons and less than 72tons. Valid values vary depending on the vehicle type, but all valid values are: gt_20t, gt_34t_lt_40t, gt_40t_lt_44t, gt_44t_lt_60t, gt_60t_lt_72t, lt_34t, lt_40t, gt_12t_lt_20t, gt_20t_lt_26t, gt_3.5t_lt_7.5t, gt_7.5t_lt_12t, gt_26t_lt_32t, gt_7.5t_lt_20t, lte_3.5t, lt_3.5t | optional | North America: NA, Rest of World: gt_20t |
| fuel_source string The fuel source that the vehicle is running on. Valid values vary depending on the vehicle type, but all valid values are: diesel_5_percent_biodiesel_blend, bio_lng_or_diesel, cng_or_diesel, lng_or_diesel, bio_lng, cng, lng, lpg, petrol | optional | Average |
| load_type string The type of load the vehicle carries. Valid values vary depending on the vehicle type, but all valid values are: heavy, container, light | optional | Average |
Sea
A leg with the "transport_mode": "sea", can specify further details about the journey by including this object under leg_details.
| Attributes | Required | Default |
|---|---|---|
| vessel_type string The type of vessel that is used for the transportation. All valid values are: container, container_reefer_refrigerated, bulk_carrier, bulk_carrier_ignition_ship, bulk_carrier_medium_speed_ship, bulk_carrier_slow_speed_ship, general_cargo, oil_tanker, oil_tanker_ignition_ship, oil_tanker_medium_speed_ship, oil_tanker_slow_speed_ship, ro_pax, ro_ro | required | container |
| tonnage string The tonnage the ship can carry, as a string specifying the range E.g. gt_10dwkt_lt_20dwkt means more than 10 deadweight kilotons (opens in a new tab), and less than 20 deadweight kilotons. This cannot be set for vessel types container and container_reefer_refrigerated. For other vessel types the valid values vary depending on the vessel type, but all valid values are: gt_100dwkt, gt_10dwkt_lt_100dwkt, lt_10dwkt, gt_10dwkt_lt_20dwkt, gt_200dwkt, gt_5dwkt_lt_60dwkt, gt_60dwkt_lt_200dwkt, lt_5dwkt | optional | NA |
| fuel_source string The type of fuel that the ship uses. Cannot be set for vessel types container and container_reefer_refrigerated. For other vessel types the valid values vary depending on the vessel type, but all valid values are: hfo, mgo, lng | optional | NA |
| load_type string The type of load that the ship is carrying. Cannot be set for vessel types container and container_reefer_refrigerated. For other vessel types the valid values vary depending on the vessel type, but all valid values are: heavy, trailer_only, truck_plus_trailer | optional | NA |
Air
A leg with the "transport_mode": "air", can specify further details about the journey by including this object under leg_details.
| Attributes | Required | Default |
|---|---|---|
| aircraft_type string The aircraft type used to carry the shipment. Use freighter if it is a dedicated cargo plane, or belly_freight if it is transported in the belly of a passenger plane. | optional | average |
| methodology string The methodology used to calculate the emissions. Valid values are en16258 or iata_rp1678. Climatiq defaults to en16258 as we consider that the most valid of the two methods. | optional | en16258 |
| radiative_forcing_index number The radiative forcing index to multiply the emissions by (see info box below). If you do not want a radiative forcing index to be applied, you may specify 1 | optional | 2 |
GLEC default emission factors do not include a Radiative Forcing Index (RFI) (opens in a new tab). RFIs are applied to account for the increased impact on global heating made by greenhouse gases released directly into the upper atmosphere by aircraft. RFI values depend on things like altitude and trip length and are subject to uncertainty and disagreements. To perform the most accurate calculations, this endpoint currently applies an RFI of 2 to all flights, based on the latest available science (opens in a new tab). If a Radiative Forcing Index has been applied, a notice will be returned.
Rail
A leg with the "transport_mode": "rail"; you can specify further details about the journey by including this object under leg_details.
| Rail Details Attributes | Required | Default |
|---|---|---|
| fuel_type string The fuel type that the train runs on. Valid values are diesel, electricity; do not include if hybrid or unknown (an averaged factor will be applied) | optional | regional average or default |
| load_type string The load that the train is carrying. Valid values are building_materials, cars, cereals, chemicals, coal_steel, container, manufactured_products, trailer_only_on_train, truck_plus_trailer_on_train | optional | average |
We have not yet implemented network distance calculations for rail outside of Europe; in the interim we fallback to using the great circle distance between the points.
The GLEC emission factors have a good coverage of Europe, with diesel and electric options and different load types represented. US has more basic factors , while for the rest of the world, in absence of applicable factors, under GLEC guidance we fall back to using a factor reflecting the European average.
Notices should be present in your response if your query has hit any of these limitations.
Location
A trip always has two or more locations.
| Request Location Attributes | Required |
|---|---|
| location Location Either a QueryLocation, an IataCodeLocation, an UNLocodeLocation or a CoordinateLocation | required |
| location_options Location Options Extra options that a location can have. See section below. | optional |
Query Location
| Query Location Attributes | Required |
|---|---|
| query string A free text query describing the location, such as "Berlin, Germany", or "10 Downing Street". | optional |
| country string The two or three letter ISO-3166 country code (opens in a new tab) for a given location. If you want to find locations in China you must specify the correct country code. | optional |
| postal_code string The postal (or zip) code for the given location. If used, country or query must also be specified. | optional |
All the properties are optional, but you must specify at least a query or a country + postal_code. You may specify all three.
Note that not all countries have support for postal codes, and the format might be different from country to country. See this table (opens in a new tab) for details on postal codes.
To specify locations in China, ensure you have added the country attribute to the location
object and that it is set to CN or CHN.
IATA Code Location
| IataLocation Attributes | Required |
|---|---|
| iata string An IATA airport code. | required |
UN/LOCODE Location
| UNLocode Location Attributes | Required |
|---|---|
| locode string An UN/LOCODE (opens in a new tab) of the format DE-BER for Berlin. The Locode must contain both country and location. | required |
Coordinate Location
| Coordinate Location Attributes | Required |
|---|---|
| longitude number The longitude of the coordinate. | required |
| latitude number The latitude of the coordinate. | required |
| country number The 2-letter country code for the country that this coordinate is located within. | required |
Location Options
There are other options that are sometimes relevant to change, particularly if the location is travelled to or from is a fixed-transition point leg
| Location Options Attributes | Required | Default |
|---|---|---|
| tolerance_km number If a location is adjacent to a fixed-transition point leg, Climatiq automatically makes small corrections to turn your provided location into the proper port, airport or railway station. If you want to increase this distance, you may change this parameter, to the maximum distance in km you want corrections to be made for. See Automatic Location Correction for more details. | optional | 10 |
Response Models
These are more in-depth explanations of the models returned by the intermodal freight endpoint.
ResponseLocation
The location in the route array of the response will contain the following properties
| Response Location attributes |
|---|
| name string A human-readable name of the location |
| latitude string or null The latitude of the location. This is only returned if you have access to view coordinates. Please contact us if you need this enabled. |
| longitude string or null The longitude of the location. This is only returned if you have access to view coordinates. Please contact us if you need this enabled. |
| confidence_score number A confidence score between 0 and 1, determining how certain we are that the location matches your query. Only exists if the input location was a QueryLocation |
ResponseLeg
The leg in the route array of the response will contain the following properties
| Response Leg attributes |
|---|
| co2e number The carbon dioxide equivalent emitted for this leg of the trip. |
| co2e_unit string The unit in which the co2e field is expressed. Is always kg |
| transport_mode string What transport mode this leg corresponds to. Will be "road", "air", "sea" or "rail" |
| distance_km number The distance in kilometers for this leg of the trip. |
| estimates [Estimation] An array of estimations performed to achieve the final co2e value for this leg. Depending on the LCA attributes of the relevant emission factors, this will generally be 1-2 emission factors. Climatiq will always prioritize giving you two emission factors for well_to_tank and tank_to_wheel if possible. For road routes where the truck takes a ferry, this might be more. |
Notice
The notices array can contain these objects:
| Notice attributes |
|---|
| severity string Either critical or info. critical is for messages that might lead to inaccurate calculations. You should check these to make sure the results are fit for your intended purpose. info is for information that will help you understand the calculation result better. |
| message string An explanation of the notice. |
| leg_index number An optional number describing which leg of the journey this notice belongs to. |
| code string A programmatic value you can use to disambiguate the different notice types. |
The different possible values for code are as follows. You should not treat this list as exhaustive as more values may be added with time:
| Notice code value | description |
|---|---|
distance_added | Additional distance was added based on methodological recommendations |
great_circle_distance_used | Great Circle Distance was used for the whole route in absence of more detailed routing capabillity. |
truck_ferry_used | The truck used for the journey was put on a ferry for part of the journey, sea factors were used for the covered distance |
truck_rail_used | The truck used for the journey was put on a train for part of the journey, rail factors were used for the covered distance |
partial_great_circle_distance_used | We were not able to route all parts successfully. Parts of the route were filled with great circle distance calculations. |
region_fallback | Factors or calculation methods for the exact region are not available, we have used a fallback region which we believe best covers the specified region |
actual_distance_adjusted | An adjustment was applied to the provided actual distance as the factors we are using are based on planned distance and the user provided an actual distance |
radiative_forcing_applied | An adjustment was applied to the co2e of the estimate, due to the effects of radiative forcing. |