DHL Supply Chain announced its plans to begin operating biomethane fuelled trucks with an investment worth €80m into a dedicated biomethane production facility in Cork, run by Stream BioEnergy. Biomethane is a renewable gas with the capacity to be carbon neutral. The new facility will provide fuel for up to 150 trucks, resulting in an annual carbon reduction of 15,000 tonnes, the equivalent of more than 38m miles driven by an average petrol-powered passenger vehicle.
As part of a shared commitment to decarbonising Ireland’s transport network, DHL has joined forces with leading grocery retailer, Tesco Ireland. To support the initial vehicle roll-out and whilst production ramps up, DHL will subsidise the biomethane from other sources. Once the new facility is fully functioning, DHL will operate 92 locally fuelled biomethane trucks across Tesco’s country-wide network.
DHL is fundamentally decarbonising a significant proportion of the retail transport sector in Ireland, and they intend to continue to roll this out to all the other sectors in which they operate; consumer, technology, aviation, life sciences and healthcare. Given the scale of the rollout, this will be a game changer for the transportation industry in Ireland.
The biomethane production site at Little Island, Cork, owned and operated by Stream BioEnergy, will process 90,000 tonnes of industry and consumer food waste per annum which could otherwise have been sent to landfill. The deployment of biomethane at scale requires no infrastructural upgrades to Ireland’s existing gas grid and given its capacity to be carbon neutral, biomethane is a flexible, cost-effective way to decarbonise commercial road transport.
The project reflects DHL’s commitment to delivering sustainable logistics solutions and the company’s global GoGreen agenda. The deployment of biomethane trucks, as well as investment in domestic biomethane energy production will play an important part in helping the company achieve its target of net-zero emissions by 2050.
“We are extremely proud to be enhancing renewable energy production here in Ireland and our collaboration with Tesco marks a significant step in our shared journey towards achieving net-zero emissions. Our customers’ transport networks are a vital focus area when looking at how they can achieve their overall sustainability goals so by making alternative fuels a reality we can really prove our value as a strategic partner.” says Ciaran Foley, Managing Director of DHL Supply Chain, Ireland.
This is in line to DHL Supply Chain’s commitment to sustainability. Recently, DHL Supply Chain announced the introduction of 8 bio-LNG trucks into its Aston Martin fleet, reducing carbon emissions by around 800 tonnes per year.
Source: DHL Supply Chain
