DHL extends Sustainable Marine Fuel option

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DHL announced its sustainable biofuels option will be offered on full container loads.

The company’s air and ocean freight arm DHL Global Forwarding launched its Sustainable Marine Fuel option for less-than-container loads in January, cutting carbon emissions for shipments by using sustainable biofuels. The option is free and automatically applied for less-than-container loads, but will come at a premium for full container loads. 

DHL said the carbon saving was made by DHL buying sustainable marine fuels and then matching that to the amount of fuel consumed by a customer’s shipment. The mechanism separates the environmental benefits of the fuel from the physical fuel and removes and physical traceability requirements, according to DHL.

Fuels in the programme are vetted for their sustainability credentials, ensuring among other things that fuel feedstocks do not conflict with food production. DHL also rates carriers on their green credentials and will give preference to carriers with better environmental performance, it said.

“With the strong demand for ocean freight in Asia Pacific, we are in a prime position to offer our customers a new and easier way to reduce their carbon footprint, by choosing sustainable biofuels, and decarbonizing their entire ocean freight trade lanes, “ said Kelvin Leung, CEO, DHL Global Forwarding Asia Pacific.

Customers can choose the Sustainable Marine Fuel option through their usual myDHLi Quote + Book function where a carbon calculator has been included. The first customer to opt for the green fuel option was fashion company Lindex. Johan Engen, Director of Logistics at Lindex said that the switch to greener fuel was a natural step for the company as it embraced a new normal of climate neutral and sustainable business models.

DHL Group has a 2030 target of investing EUR7 bln in climate-neutral logistics solutions, and aims to cover at least 30% of its fuel requirements with sustainable fuels.