The impact of supply chain structure on the promotion of maritime green energy consumption under carbon emission regulation

In this paper, we study how the supply chain structure affects the product selection strategy of supply chain members under emission-control regulations. We model a supply chain where a supplier produces and sells products (fuel) to a consumer, and the consumer then uses the raw materials to deliver a service (shipping) to satisfy a stochastic market demand. The suppliers offer both green and traditional products, and the consumer is capped based on an emission quota and pays a penalty for exceeding that quota. We model this situation and derive optimal solutions for centralized and decentralized supply chains, and show that key factors like emission abatement costs, penalties for excess emission, and salvation values strongly influence fuel choices; centralized supply chains promote green fuel consumption more strongly, but decentralized supply chains were more flexible. We also model supply chains dominated by green fuel suppliers and traditional producers, showing that the former is more likely to supply both types of fuel and the latter promotes monopoly formation. A numerical study is presented to validate our findings.