Intermodal Freight v2 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.
This is the API reference for the intermodal freight feature.
If you're just getting started, we highly recommend that you start with the guide that explains the concepts you will need to understand to effectively use the endpoint
If you're already using version 1 and are interested in upgrading, we suggest you start with the changelog which highlights which sections of this document to concentrate on.
Estimate
POST Calculate total estimated emissions produced by shipping an amount of cargo by the specified route.
https://api.climatiq.io/freight/v2/intermodal
Request
This endpoint accepts the following parameters:
- cargorequired object
The details of the cargo being shipped
- routerequired array of Route Legs or Locations
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.
curl --request POST \--url https://api.climatiq.io/freight/v2/intermodal \--header "Authorization: Bearer $CLIMATIQ_API_KEY" \--data '{ "route": [ { "location": { "query": "Hamburg" } }, { "transport_mode": "road", "leg_details": { "vehicle_type": "van", "vehicle_weight": "lte_3.5t", "fuel_source": "petrol" } }, { "location": { "query": "Berlin" } } ], "cargo": { "weight": 10, "weight_unit": "t" }}'
Response
A response consists of the following attributes.
- co2efloat
The total carbon dioxide equivalent emitted for the entire trip. This encompasses logistics hubs, vehicle operations and vehicle energy provisioning.
- hub_equipment_co2efloat
The carbon dioxide equivalent emitted for the operation of logistics hubs during the trip. This encompasses both operational and energy provisioning emissions. Logistics hubs emissions cover the transportation and movement of cargo from one mode of transportation to another, such as moving containers from a truck to a ship.
- vehicle_operation_co2efloat
The carbon dioxide equivalent emitted for the part of the trip where the vehicle is being operated, such as the combustion of fuel, leakage of refrigerants etc.
- vehicle_energy_provision_co2efloat
The carbon dioxide equivalent emitted for the provisioning of energy for the vehicle operations. This covers among others: electricity generation, electricity transmission and distribution losses, the production of fuel, and the transportation of fuel to the vehicle.
- co2e_calculation_methodstring
Which calculation methodology that was used for the calculation. The value of this is either
"ipcc_ar4_gwp100"
,"ipcc_ar5_gwp100"
,"ipcc_ar6_gwp100"
or"ipcc_mixed_gwp100"
. Learn more about calculation methods here. - co2e_unitstring
The unit in which the CO2e field is expressed. The value of this is always
kg
- distance_kmfloat
The distance in kilometers that the cargo has been shipped along the specified route.
- cargo_tonnesfloat
The weight in tonnes which is being shipped along the specified route.
- routearray of ResponseLocations or ResponseLegs
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.
{ "co2e": 2768, "hub_equipment_co2e": 12, "vehicle_operation_co2e": 2088, "vehicle_energy_provision_co2e": 667.7, "co2e_unit": "kg", "co2e_calculation_method": "ipcc_ar6_gwp100", "cargo_tonnes": 10, "distance_km": 284.1, "route": [ { "type": "location", "co2e": 6, "co2e_unit": "kg", "co2e_calculation_method": "ipcc_ar6_gwp100", "source_trail": [ { "data_category": "emission_factor", "name": "Freight logistics - transshipment - ambient", "source": "GLEC", "source_dataset": "Default fuel efficiency and GHG emission intensity values v3.0", "year": "2023", "region": "GLOBAL", "region_name": "Global" } ], "name": "Hamburg, Germany", "latitude": 53.55562, "longitude": 9.98745, "confidence_score": 1 }, { "type": "leg", "co2e": 2756, "co2e_unit": "kg", "co2e_calculation_method": "ipcc_ar6_gwp100", "source_trail": [ { "data_category": "emission_factor", "name": "Van <3.5t - Petrol", "source": "GLEC", "source_dataset": "Default fuel efficiency and GHG emission intensity values v3.0", "year": "2023", "region": "EU_S_AMERICA", "region_name": "Europe and South America" } ], "vehicle_operation_co2e": 2088, "vehicle_energy_provision_co2e": 667.7, "transport_mode": "road", "distance_km": 284.1, "notices": [] }, { "type": "location", "co2e": 6, "co2e_unit": "kg", "co2e_calculation_method": "ipcc_ar6_gwp100", "source_trail": [ { "data_category": "emission_factor", "name": "Freight logistics - transshipment - ambient", "source": "GLEC", "source_dataset": "Default fuel efficiency and GHG emission intensity values v3.0", "year": "2023", "region": "GLOBAL", "region_name": "Global" } ], "name": "Berlin, Germany", "latitude": 52.51604, "longitude": 13.37691, "confidence_score": 1 } ]}
Climatiq draws information from many sources, including OpenStreetMap (opens in a new tab). The license of that information requires you to provide attribution where this information comes from. If you display information such as routes and location names externally, you should make sure you correctly attribute this data to OpenStreetMaps, e.g. by writing "May contain information from OpenStreetMap".
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.
- transport_moderequired string
How the goods are transported. Allowed values are
air
,sea
,road
,rail
. - leg_detailsobject
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. - planned_distance_kmfloat
Planned Distance or Shortest Feasible Distance for the leg. We will use this distance instead of the planned distance we would normally calculate. If you need to use an actual distance, be careful to apply a Distance Adjustment Factor (DAF) in order to reduce the distance. For example, GLEC suggests that for sea transport, a DAF of 15% can be used to account for average container sea transport distances being on average 15% longer than the shortest feasible distance - ie. divide the actual distance by 1.15 to get the appropriate planned distance. GLEC does not provide guidance for any other transport modes.
A route cannot by default have more than three legs. If you need more than three legs, you can call the API endpoint multiple times, or contact Climatiq (opens in a new tab) to get this limit raised
Road (Outside of North America)
A leg with the "transport_mode": "road"
, that is taking place outside of North America can specify further details about the journey by including this object under leg_details
.
These options do not apply to trips with combustion vehicles within North America, where the input options are more limited. If your trip is in North America, see the section below on combustion vehicles for North America. or the section on electric vehicles which is globally applicable.
Different vehicle_type
s have different requirements and options. Please consult the table further down for the list of valid parameter combinations.
- vehicle_typerequired string
The type of vehicle that is used for the transportation.
articulated
andrigid
refers to truck types. All valid values are:van
,rigid_truck
,articulated_truck
,articulated_truck_incl_lightweight_trailer
- vehicle_weightrequired string
The carrying capacity of the vehicle, as a string specifying the range. E.g.
gt_60t_lte_72t
means a carrying capacity greater than 60tons and less than or equal to 72tons. Refer to the table below for all valid combinations of values. - fuel_sourcerequired string
The fuel source that the vehicle is running on. Valid values vary depending on the vehicle type, but all valid values are:
diesel
,cng
,lng
,bio_lng
,bio_lng_or_diesel
,cng_or_diesel
,lng_or_diesel
,petrol
,electricity
- load_typestring
The type of load the vehicle carries. Valid values vary depending on the vehicle type, but all valid values are:
light
,heavy
,container
.Default ValueAverage
Valid parameter combinations (Outside of North America)
Please consult this table to see what valid combinations of values are when outside of north america, this includes electrical vehicles:
vehicle_type Parameter | fuel_source Parameter | vehicle_weight Parameter | load_type Parameter |
articulated_truck | lng , lng_or_diesel , bio_lng , bio_lng_or_diesel , cng , cng_or_diesel | lte_40t | container , null |
diesel | lte_34t , gt_34t_lte_40t | container , null | |
gt_40t_lte_44t | container , heavy , light , null | ||
gt_44t_lte_60t | container , heavy , null` | ||
gt_60t_lte_72t | container , heavy | ||
articulated_truck_incl_lightweight_trailer | diesel | lte_40t | heavy |
rigid_truck | cng | gt_3.5t_lte_7.5t , gt_7.5t_lte_12t , gt_12t_lte_20t , gt_20t_lte_26t | null |
diesel | gt_3.5t_lte_7.5t , gt_7.5t_lte_12t , gt_12t_lte_20t , gt_20t_lte_26t | null | |
gt_26t_lte_32t | container , null | ||
lng | gt_20t_lte_26t | null | |
electricity | gt_3.5t_lte_7.5t , gt_7.5t_lte_12t , gt_12t_lte_20t gt_26t_lte_40t | light , null | |
van | diesel , petrol , cng , lpg , electricity | lte_3.5t | null |
Road (Combustion vehicles within North America)
A leg with the "transport_mode": "road"
, taking place inside North America and using a combustion vehicle can specify further details about the journey by including this object under leg_details
.
These options only apply to trips with combustion vehicles within North America. If your trip is outside of North America, see the section above on vehicles outside of North America. or, if the trip is using an electric vehicle, see the section on electric vehicles which is globally applicable.
- vehicle_typerequired string
The type of vehicle that is used for the transportation. All valid values are:
auto_carrier
,dray
,expedited
,flatbed
,general
,heavy_bulk
,ltl_or_dry_van
,mixed
,moving
,package
,refrigerated
,specialized
,tanker
,tl_or_dry_van
,van
Default Valuegeneral
Road (Electric Vehicles)
A leg with the "transport_mode": "road"
, with an electric car can specify further details about the journey by including this object under leg_details
.
If the fuel_source
is electricity
, the vehicle is considered an electric vehicle.
These options are valid globally (both inside and outside of North America), but only apply to electric vehicles. If your transportation uses combustion engine, see the above sections
Different vehicle_type
s have different requirements and options. Please consult the table further down for the list of valid parameter combinations.
- fuel_sourcerequired string
Must be
electricity
for electric vehicles. - vehicle_typerequired string
The type of vehicle that is used for the transportation. All valid values are:
van
,rigid_truck
- vehicle_weightrequired string
The carrying capacity of the vehicle, as a string specifying the range. E.g.
gt_34t_lte_40t
means a carrying capacity greater than 34tonnes and less than or equal to 40tonnes. Refer to the table below for all valid combinations of values. - load_typestring
The type of load the vehicle carries. Valid values vary depending on the vehicle type, but all valid values are:
light
Default ValueAverage
Valid parameter combinations (Electric only)
Please consult this table to see what valid combinations of values are then using Electric trucks worldwide:
fuel_source Parameter | vehicle_type Parameter | vehicle_weight Parameter | load_type Parameter |
electricity | rigid_truck | gt_3.5t_lte_7.5t , gt_7.5t_lte_12t , gt_12t_lte_20t gt_26t_lte_40t | light , null |
electricity | van | lte_3.5t | null |
Sea
A leg with the "transport_mode": "sea"
, can specify further details about the journey by including this object under leg_details
.
- vessel_typerequired string
The type of vessel that is used for the transportation. Refer to the table below for all valid combinations of values.
Default Valuecontainer
- tonnagestring
The tonnage the ship can carry, as a string specifying the range E.g.
gte_5dwkt_lt_10dwkt
means more than (or equal to) 5 deadweight kilotonnes, and less than 10 deadweight kilotonnes. You might also see the abbreviationgt
for gross tonnage. Refer to the table below for all valid combinations of values. - fuel_sourcestring
The type of fuel that the ship uses. Refer to the table below for all valid combinations of values.
Valid parameter combinations
Please consult this table to see what valid combinations of values are:
vessel_type Parameter | tonnage Parameter | fuel_source Parameter |
container | null | null |
bulk_carrier |
| hfo , vlsfo , mdo |
chemical_tanker | lt_5dwkt , gte_5dwkt_lt_10dwkt , gte_10dwkt_lt_20dwkt , gte_20dwkt_lt_40dwkt , gte_40dwkt | hfo , vlsfo , mdo |
ferry_ropax | lt_2000gt , gte_2000gt_lt_5000gt , gte_5000gt_lt_10000gt , gte_10000gt_lt_20000gt , gte_20000gt | hfo , vlsfo , mdo |
general_cargo | lt_5dwkt , gte_5dwkt_lt_10dwkt , gte_10dwkt_lt_20dwkt , gte_20dwkt | hfo , vlsfo , mdo |
liquefied_gas_tanker | lt_50000cbm , gte_50000cbm_lt_100000cbm , gte_100000cbm_lt_200000cbm , gte_200000cbm | hfo , vlsfo , mdo |
oil_tanker | lt_5dwkt , gte_5dwkt_lt_10dwkt , gte_10dwkt_lt_20dwkt , gte_20dwkt_lt_60dwkt , gte_60dwkt_lt_80dwkt , gte_80dwkt_lt_120dwkt , gte_120dwkt_lt_200dwkt , gte_200dwkt | hfo , vlsfo , mdo |
other_liquids_tankers | lt_1dwkt , gte_1dwkt | hfo , vlsfo , mdo |
refrigerated_bulk | lt_2dwkt , gte_2dwkt_lt_6dwkt , gte_6dwkt_lt_10dwkt , gte_10dwkt | hfo , vlsfo , mdo |
ro_ro | lt_5dwkt , gte_5dwkt_lt_10dwkt , gte_10dwkt_lt_15dwkt , gte_15dwkt | hfo , vlsfo , mdo |
vehicle | lt_30000gt , gte_30000gt_lt_50000gt , gte_50000gt | hfo , vlsfo , mdo |
The emission factors for the ro_ro
(Roll on - Roll off) vessel type are calculated differently than other types of vessels. For ro_ro
vessels, the weight should include both the vehicle and any cargo it carries. In contrast, for other vessel types, only the weight of the cargo should be considered.
If you're shipping cargo using a vehicle on a ro_ro
vessel, you'll need to adjust your API request accordingly. You may also choose to attribute only a portion of the emissions to yourself if you are transporting only part of the vehicle's cargo.
Please note that the Climatiq API does not automatically select ro_ro
vessels as the default option, so you only need to take this into account if you explicitly choose this vessel type.
Air
A leg with the "transport_mode": "air"
, can specify further details about the journey by including this object under leg_details
.
- aircraft_typestring
The aircraft type used to carry the shipment. Use
freighter
if it is a dedicated cargo plane, orbelly_freight
if it is transported in the belly of a passenger plane.Default ValueAverage - radiative_forcing_indexfloat
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
Default Value2
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
.
- fuel_sourcestring
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).electric
can only be specified for journeys within Europe or Asia.Default ValueRegional average or default - load_typestring
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
Default ValueAverage
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 2-letter ISO-3166 country code (opens in a new tab) for a given location. | 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.
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 float The longitude of the coordinate. | required |
latitude float The latitude of the coordinate. | required |
country string Climatiq automatically determines the country the coordinates are within. If you need to, you can override this selection by supplying a 2-letter country code. | optional |
Location Options
There are other options that are sometimes relevant to change. 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. See Automatic Location Correction for more details.
Location Options Attributes | Required | Default |
---|---|---|
override_transition boolean If the location is known to be valid for transition between different modalities, for example when providing the coordinates of a private railway terminal or dock, this overrides our attempts to automatically correct the location to a known fixed transition point and prevents errors. | optional | false |
tolerance_km float The maximum distance, in km, that we would correct a location to match a mixed transition point. Increasing this can help with some errors which occur with very large ports, etc. for which different locations may be identified. | optional | 10 |
logistics_hubs_type string The type of logistics hub operation performed at this location, if you wish to override the default. Logistics hubs are where freight is stored and processed, and where freight is moved between vehicles. Valid values are: none , transshipment , storage_and_transshipment , warehouse , liquid_bulk_terminals and maritime_container_terminals . Refrigerated variants exist for all these values, and are selected if the cargo is marked as refrigerated. | optional | transshipment unless one of the adjacent legs is sea container shipping, then maritime_container_terminals |
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 |
---|
type "location" constant to easily show whether the item is a location or leg |
co2e float The carbon dioxide equivalent emitted for the operation of logistics hubs at this location. This encompasses both operational and energy provisioning emissions. Logistics hubs emissions cover the transportation and movement of cargo from one mode of transportation to another, such as moving containers from a truck to a ship. |
co2e_calculation_method string or null Which calculation methodology that was used for the calculation. The value of this is either "ipcc_ar4_gwp100" , "ipcc_ar5_gwp100" , "ipcc_ar6_gwp100" , "ipcc_mixed_gwp100" or null (if the request specified that no transshipment should be estimated). Learn more about calculation methods here. |
co2e_unit string The unit in which the CO2e fields is expressed. The value of this is always kg |
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 float 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 |
source_trail array of SourceDataPoint An array of Source Data Points that help explain and provide trust in the calculation. Click to view more details about Source Trail. |
ResponseLeg
The leg in the route
array of the response will contain the following properties
Response Leg attributes |
---|
type "leg" constant to easily show whether the item is a location or leg |
co2e float The total carbon dioxide equivalent emitted for this leg of the trip. This encompasses both vehicle operations and vehicle energy provisioning. |
co2e_calculation_method string Which calculation methodology that was used for the calculation. The value of this is either ipcc_ar4_gwp100 , ipcc_ar5_gwp100 , ipcc_ar6_gwp100 or ipcc_mixed_gwp100 . Learn more about calculation methods here. |
co2e_unit string The unit in which the CO2e fields is expressed. The value of this is always kg |
vehicle_operation_co2e float The carbon dioxide equivalent emitted for the part of the trip where the vehicle is being operated, such as the combustion of fuel, leakage of refrigerants etc. |
vehicle_energy_provision_co2e float The carbon dioxide equivalent emitted for the provisioning of energy for the vehicle operations. This covers among others: electricity generation, electricity transmission and distribution losses, the production of fuel, and the transportation of fuel to the vehicle. |
transport_mode string What transport mode this leg corresponds to. Will be "road" , "air" , "sea" or "rail" |
distance_km float The distance in kilometers for this leg of the trip. |
source_trail array of SourceDataPoint An array of Source Data Points that help explain and provide trust in the calculation. Click to view more details about Source Trail. |
notices array of Notice An array of notices for this leg, 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. |
Notice
The notices
array can contain these objects:
Notice attributes |
---|
severity string Either warning or info . warning 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. |
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 |
---|---|
great_circle_distance_used | Great Circle Distance was used for the leg in absence of more detailed routing capability. |
partial_great_circle_distance_used | We were not able to route the entire leg successfully. Parts of the leg was filled with great circle distance calculations. |
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 |
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 |
radiative_forcing_applied | An adjustment was applied to the co2e of the estimate, due to the effects of radiative forcing. |
global_electricity_factor_used | A country-specific electricity factor wasn't available, so global was used instead. |