Reducing Emissions Profitably: A study concerning preconditions of business ecosystem change in shipping

Henry Schwartz*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Types of ThesisDoctoral ThesisCollection of Articles

Abstract

This dissertation studies the research problem, how is it possible to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions profitably in shipping. The dissertation consists of four research papers and a cover essay. Maritime shipping causes almost one billion metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions annually, and reducing this volume is a challenge given the ever-growing transportation volumes globally. There are various reasons why companies and organizations do not utilize energy efficiency seeking solutions in shipping. However, the most significant reasons for not doing so are based on economics. This dissertation shows that emissions can be reduced profitably by investing in certain technologies that, as an example, reduce fuel consumption and by doing so cut the total fuel costs by an amount greater than the actual investment costs. Simultaneously, a company may run an environmentally sustainable business model and collect price premiums of the transportation services that are conducted in an environmentally friendly way.

This dissertation introduces the flow theory of business ecosystems to the public. The concept is based on the factors of production. Based on the flow theory of business ecosystems, the business ecosystems are networks whose actors are connected to one another with cash flows, capital flows, information flows, energy flows and/or physical flows as a means of creating profit by utilizing and combining resources (cash, capital, energy, material, and data) and/or work (actions). The term ‘profit’ can be replaced with the word ‘value’ when considering also non-for-profit organizations. The tool called Business Ecosystem Mapping, which is based on the flow theory of business ecosystems and is presented in this dissertation, helps companies and organizations in understanding the business ecosystem they are in with a novel angle and perspective considering the different kinds of flows.

Overall, environmentally sustainable maritime shipping can be profitable by
reducing costs, attracting environmentally savvy customers, collecting new kinds of financing opportunities, and gaining technology subsidies from the governments. In addition, by environmentally sustainable shipping activities, it is also possible to get rid of different types of regulatory penalties steered towards polluting actors. To conclude, environmentally sustainable shipping may turn out to be profitable business, in which greenhouse-gas emissions are reduced profitably.
Original languageEnglish
Supervisors/Advisors
  • Gustafsson, Magnus, Supervisor
  • Spohr, Jonas, Supervisor
Place of PublicationÅbo
Publisher
Print ISBNs978-952-12-4424-7
Electronic ISBNs978-952-12-4425-4
Publication statusPublished - 2024
MoE publication typeG5 Doctoral dissertation (article)

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