Developing a Cloud Carbon Footprint Decision Support System for Supply Chain

In recent years, the greenhouse effect has made a heavy global climate change and has seriously affect human survival and development environment. The global warming problem has become the focus of world attention. In order to meet requirements of environmental quality for global customers, the related activities within the life cycle for a product must be clearly defined in order to improve the carbon emissions generated in the supply chain (from the raw material suppliers to the retailers). In response to the variability of the product life cycle and customer requirements for environmental protection, this study proposes a cloud computing architecture to construct the decision support system for selecting appropriate partners (suppliers, delivery, and manufacturers). The scope of the carbon footprint activity is defined to cover the entire supply chain, and then the carbon footprint data for the related activities can be collected. The process the carbon footprint activity is also analyzed by object-oriented technology, and the results of the analysis can be used to identify the services needed for the carbon footprint decision support system. Google App Engine (GAE) platform is used to develop services and deploy these services in cloud computing environment. The high flexibility and scalability of cloud computing environment can reduce the complexity of system implementation, and the supply chain partners can use different devices to access these services. Carbon information of a product can be monitored by integrating carbon footprint data stored in heterogeneous environment, and the carbon reduction target can be achieved by the optimal combination of appropriate partners.