It’s all ahead full for sustainable marine fuels

Behind every cargo container stacked high on the deck of an ocean freighter is a company keeping a close eye on it. Nowadays, it’s getting easier to monitor the contents of a single container, thanks to the Internet of Things. Today’s tech even allows us to calculate the carbon footprint of an individual parcel packed deep in an ocean freight container.

Monitoring shipments is one thing, but reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from overseas transport is another story. Over 90% of goods worldwide are transported on container ships, many of which are powered by heavy fuel oil. These massive vessels need energy-dense fuels to cross oceans.

But the tide has turned. Sustainable marine fuel (SMF) is now available to help lower GHG emissions in maritime transport. Unfortunately, the supply of SMF is still much too low, but the upward trend in production is encouraging. Plus, it’s getting easier to ‘book and claim’ SMF – to purchase SMF and claim verified emissions reductions. This means that more shippers can have a say in the environmental impact of their ocean freight shipments (more on ‘book and claim’ below).

One of Europe’s leading sustainable fashion companies is a prime example of how we can use SMF to lower well-to-wake emissions. With approximately 440 stores in 18 markets, Lindex has committed to cutting transport emissions by half through 2030. Nearly 90% of the company’s goods are transported by ship, which makes access to alternative marine fuels a giant leap toward achieving their sustainability goals.

That’s where we come in. Lindex was the first company to take advantage of our options to reduce carbon emissions for both full-container-load (FCL) and less-than-container-load (LCL) shipments using SMF.

It is, of course, logistically impossible to ensure that every vessel carrying the Lindex‘s products is adding SMF to their tank. That’s because multiple cargo containers are in transit on multiple ships at any given time. Instead, the company uses our ocean freight GoGreen Plus service to book sustainable marine fuels and claim the environmental benefits with independently verified emissions reduction certificates. That way, Lindex can book a specified amount of SMF and claim a corresponding amount of GHG emission reductions. Our global logistics portal – myDHLi – makes it easy (more about that below).  

Alternative maritime fuels are an important part of GoGreen Plus, and we are working to increase our access to them. For example, we expanded our long-standing partnership with GoodShipping, the market leader in carbon insetting. Unlike offsetting, carbon insetting Involves funding decarbonization measures within the sector where the emissions originated. In addition to purchasing approximately 60 million liters of SMF, our collaboration with GoodShipping includes piloting a new insetting framework created by the Smart Freight Centre.

It’s going to take partnerships like these to drive up demand for SMF and encourage suppliers to ramp up production – just like our efforts to join forces with like-minded partners to scale up the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

The use of sustainable marine fuel in maritime transport and supply chains is based on a one-atmosphere approach. What does that mean? The environment doesn’t care which ship uses biofuels instead of fossil fuels. Increasing the share of alternative marine fuel in the ocean shipping network will hopefully reduce the overall GHG emissions of maritime transport. A clear accounting and verification process ensures those of us trying to use SMF get credit for it.

Working with early adopters like Lindex and GoodShipping, we’re hoping to expand the use of 'book and claim' to encourage more production of SMF and ultimately increase the blend of SMF in ocean freight container vessels worldwide.

Updated: December 2024