Sustainable Procurement News

DHL Express with pioneering collaborations on the use of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF): bp and Neste deliver over 800 million litres of SAF 

bp and Neste pledge DHL Express delivery of over 800 million litres of sustainable aviation fuel by 2026

According to estimates, the CO2 savings from this use of SAF on a life-cycle basis correspond to the annual greenhouse gas emissions of around 400,000 passenger cars

The groundbreaking agreements are an important step towards achieving Deutsche Post DHL Group’s goal of using 30 percent sustainable aviation fuel for all air freight traffic in all air freight by 2030.

Frank Appel, CEO Deutsche Post DHL Group: “The use of sustainable aviation fuels is currently one of the key levers in aviation for reducing CO2 emissions over the entire life cycle.”

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is investing in two TaxiBots, becoming the first in Europe to use the special towing vehicles that enable aircraft to taxi sustainably.

The sustainable taxiing process sees aircraft taken to and from the runway by a special towing vehicle, with the aircraft engines remaining largely switched off. The TaxiBots, supplied by Smart Airport Systems, will enter service at Schiphol in mid-2022.

A previous trial at the airport demonstrated that sustainable taxiing reduces fuel consumption during taxiing by around 50%, thereby lowering carbon, nitrogen and ultrafine particle emissions. Indeed, given the distance involved, fuel savings can reach up to 65% when aircraft taxi to the Polderbaan – Schiphol’s sixth, and most distant, runway.

In one of the most challenging sectors to decarbonize, Alaska has set forth its plan to greatly reduce its carbon, waste and water impacts by 2025; and eliminate its carbon emissions altogether by 2040.

We recognize the role we play as an airline in contributing to climate change and therefore our responsibility in solving it. To meet our goal of going 100% green by reducing 100% of our greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, we want to lead our industry toward real solutions and lasting change.

Airbus released three concepts for zero-emission aircraft that the aerospace company said could enter service by 2035. All of the concepts call for hydrogen as a primary power source.

By publishing the new concepts, Airbus said it seeks to lead on decarbonizing the aviation industry. The company chose hydrogen because it’s “an option which Airbus believes holds exceptional promise as a clean aviation fuel and is likely to be a solution for aerospace and many other industries to meet their climate-neutral targets.”

Delta Air Lines has announced that it is committing $1 billion over the next 10 years on its journey to mitigate all emissions from its global business going forward. The airline will invest in driving innovation, advancing clean air travel technologies, accelerating the reduction of carbon emissions and waste, and establishing new projects to mitigate the balance of emissions.

Airlines are making progress toward more efficiency and are offsetting emissions—but the big emissions cuts needed from aviation are not yet in the plans, researchers say. Some of the world’s largest airlines have yet to set long-term targets to reduce their climate-changing emissions, climate and economic researchers warned Tuesday.

Technology never backpedals. The power of flight is no different. As airlines throughout the globe continue to improve and as more and more citizens once thought out of reach of air travel begin to fly, the demand for flight will only grow. Luckily, the industry has already recognized the importance of improving its environmental footprint and has begun to take steps toward a future of greener aviation.

Delta is the first U.S. airline to partner with EcoVadis, a provider of business sustainability ratings. This partnership marks Delta’s latest step in integrating its environmental, social and governance goals across its entire business strategy.

“Our values are at the core of everything we do, and that must include our global supply chain,” said Heather Ostis, Delta’s Vice President of Supply Chain Management. “We are continuously looking for ways to innovate and improve how we integrate environmental, social and governance priorities with good vendor practices, touching every aspect of our business. EcoVadis gives us the tools we need to help enhance transparency at the forefront of our value chain with the goal of building resiliency, business performance, positive impact and long-term value.”

A new report called "Sweat Not Oil" says the deals damage progress in efforts to tackle global warming.

It says there are more than 250 sponsor agreements worldwide between sports groups and high carbon industries.

"Sport floats on a sea of sponsorship deals with the major polluters," report co-author Andrew Simms said.

"It makes the crisis worse by normalising high-carbon, polluting lifestyles, and reducing the pressure for climate action."

The report is published by the New Weather Institute think tank, climate charity Possible and the Rapid Transition Alliance.

Thirteen sports were examined, with football found to have the most deals - 57 in total worldwide - from kit sponsors to stadium naming rights being sold to oil and gas companies, as well as airlines and motoring firms.

European aerospace corporation Airbus has unveiled three designs for the world’s first zero-emission commercial aircrafts that would rely on hydrogen as a primary power source. Collectively dubbed ZEROe, the climate-neutral, zero-emission concepts are designed to carry maximum passenger loads between 100 and 200 people for flights that range from short-haul trips to transcontinental journeys. Airbus’ hydrogen-powered commercial aircrafts could enter service as early as 2035.

Finnish sustainable aviation fuel supplier Neste is teaming up with petroleum heavyweight Royal Dutch Shell to “significantly increase” the supply and availability of the lower-emissions fuel for the commercial aviation industry starting in October.

The agreement comes just over a month after the Helsinki-based company began supplying three of the USA’s biggest airlines with renewable jet fuel at San Francisco International airport.

Alaska Airlines, American Airlines and JetBlue Airways began using the low-carbon gas, made from 100% renewable waste and residue sources earlier this year.

Recent weeks have seen regular cries for help from individual airlines and the sector more broadly, closely followed by condemnation from environmental and social justice campaigners, suspicious that the aviation industry is using the crisis to further delay action on climate change.

Several prominent organisations have called on governments to ensure that any support given to airlines has environmental conditions attached. These include the US-based Environmental Defence Fund (EDF), Brussels-based Transport & Environment, UK-based Institute for Public Policy Research and global campaign group Greenpeace.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is teaming up with a company to develop a carbon exchange platform where airlines, and passengers, can purchase offsets aimed at reducing the impact of air travel on the environment.

Late last week, the two firms signed a letter of intent at a meeting in Washington, detailing plans to co-operate on sustainable air travel initiatives. 

The agreement includes plans to increase KLM’s purchasing of alternative fuels for aircraft, including bio-based Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). Microsoft specifically will purchase an amount of SAF equivalent to all flights taken by its employees between the US and the Netherlands through KLM’s Corporate BioFuel scheme.

According to KLM, SAF could result in an 80% reduction of life-cycle carbon emissions is used at scale. The airline is notably aiming to open its own SAF plant.