Hapag-Lloyd and DHL team up to decarbonise container shipping
DHL Global Forwarding, the air and ocean freight specialist of Deutsche Post DHL Group, and Hapag-Lloyd, a leading worldwide shipping line, have signed an agreement for the use of advanced biofuels. This measure will stimulate the decarbonisation of container shipping and logistics.
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 tonnes of direct CO2 emissions. The two companies share the vision of decarbonising container shipping and logistics. With their project, they demonstrate the scalability of sustainable transport solutions and the relevance of sustainable fuels in today’s market. As pioneers, both DHL Global Forwarding and Hapag-Lloyd are pledging to a uniform industry standard, following the insetting approach.

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. Compared to standard fuels, this pure biofuel product lowers greenhouse gas emissions by more than 80 per cent.
“Biofuel will play a significant role in the upcoming years on our path to becoming net-zero carbon by 2045. This project will bring us a step closer to offering our customers biofuel-powered transportation as a commercial product and thereby supporting them in their efforts to reduce their carbon footprint,” said Danny Smolders, managing director for global sales at Hapag-Lloyd. DHL Global Forwarding, in turn, is planning to become carbon-neutral to achieve by 2050.