DHL Global Forwarding, the air and ocean freight arm of Deutsche Post DHL Group, has signed an agreement with Hapag-Lloyd for the use of advanced biofuels in a bid to further decarbonise container shipping and logistics.
In its announcement, DHL said as an initial step, Hapag-Lloyd will ship 18,000 TEU of DHL's volume using advanced biofuels, which is equivalent to a reduction of 14,000 tons of Well-to-Wake CO2 emissions.
"The decarbonization of heavy transport is an important challenge that the entire industry needs to rethink. That is why we are very proud to have found a partner in Hapag-Lloyd that shares the same ambitions for a climate-neutral world as anchored in the Paris Agreement. Together we want to pave the way for Book & Claim and insetting mechanisms to make it easier for shippers to use sustainable fuels," said Dominique von Orelli, global head of Ocean Freight at DHL Global Forwarding.
Advanced biofuels to cut CO2 emissions by 80%
Advanced biofuels are based on raw biological materials, such as used cooking oil and other waste products. This material is used to manufacture a fatty acid methyl ester (FAME), which is then mixed with varying proportions of low sulphur fuel oil.
DHL noted that compared to standard fuels, this pure biofuel product lowers greenhouse gas emissions by more than 80%.
"We are very happy to have signed this contract on using a considerable amount of advanced biofuel with DHL, as we both share the values and ambition to protect our environment and move towards a greener future. Biofuel will play a significant role in the upcoming years on our path to becoming net-zero carbon by 2045," said Danny Smolders, managing director of Global Sales at Hapag-Lloyd.
"This project will bring us a step closer to offering our customers biofuel-powered transportation as a commercial product and thereby to supporting them in their efforts to reduce their carbon footprint," he added.
In line with DHL's and Hapag-Lloyd's sustainability strategy to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 and 2045 respectively, both companies are committed to providing sustainable logistic solutions and access to sustainable fuels that will support decarbonizing the industry.
Hapag-Lloyd has been testing advanced biofuels since 2020 and offers a carbon-reduced transport solution utilizing biofuel blends instead of traditional fossil marine fuel oil (MFO).
Meanwhile, DHL's GoGreen Plus service paves the way to transition to clean and sustainable transportation. As part of this DHL's customers are offered various solutions for minimizing logistics-related emissions and other environmental impacts along the entire supply chain.
The product offering GoGreen Plus is part of the Group's mid-term sustainability roadmap for 2030 and contributes to the sub-target of having at least 30% of fuel requirements covered by sustainable fuels.
To reduce CO2 emissions in line with the Paris Climate Agreement, DHL has earlier earmarked €7 billion (US$7.13 billion) in sustainable fuel and clean technologies by 2030.