Ciaran Foley
Managing Director, DHL Supply Chain, Ireland
To help Ireland reach its ambitious climate targets, DHL is investing in biomethane-fuelled trucks to decarbonise the retail transport sector.
Recently, it was announced that DHL Supply Chain plans to begin operating biomethane-fuelled trucks. With an investment worth €80 million into a dedicated biomethane production facility in Cork, this highlights the growing momentum behind sustainable road transportation in Ireland.
Reducing road transport emissions
The facility will convert 90,000 tonnes of industry and consumer food waste — which could otherwise have been sent to landfill — into enough biomethane to fuel 150 trucks annually. The carbon emission reductions from this project are significant; the equivalent of over 38 million miles driven by an average petrol passenger vehicle car.
The fuel will initially power 92 trucks for DHL’s retail transport operations. This will decarbonise a significant proportion of the retail transport sector in Ireland. DHL intends to continue to roll this out to all the other sectors in which they operate — consumer, technology, aviation, life sciences and healthcare.
The carbon emission reductions from this
project are significant; the equivalent of
over 38 million miles driven by an average
petrol passenger vehicle car.
The journey to net zero
The rollout of biomethane trucks and investment in biomethane production plays an important role in supporting DHL’s global environmental targets. The company aims to achieve net zero emissions across its operations by 2050.
Ciaran Foley, Managing Director of DHL Supply Chain, Ireland, says: “This is a major milestone, not only for our operations but for our customers. The investment in domestic biomethane allows us to help businesses across Ireland significantly reduce the carbon impact of their road transport networks.”
Sustainable business practices are increasingly important to Irish consumers. The switch to cleaner transportation alternatives by leaders like DHL shows that commercial viability and environmental stewardship can go hand-in-hand.