Fig.: MSC
Sea freight offers at Schenker can now be booked "net emission-free" thanks to an agreement with the world's largest shipping company MSC (Mediterranean Shipping Company) as a contribution to the decarbonization of global transport routes through "second generation biofuels".
Together with MSC, an agreement was reached for the use of 12,000 tons of this fuel. The quantity of biofuel now purchased is sufficient to save approximately 35,000 tons of CO2 equivalents (CO2e) along the entire production chain (well-to-wake) in the market. Depending on how the fuel is used, this could enable the shipping of around 30,000 standard containers (TEU) with net CO2 emissions, meaning they would be at least CO2-neutral through offsetting measures. The agreement between DB Schenker and MSC is one of the most comprehensive agreements to date between a freight forwarder and a shipping company to use biofuel made from used cooking fats instead of conventional fossil-based marine fuel.
The 12,000 tons of green fuel will be blended into the ships' fuel at a rate of 20-30%, making a total of approximately 50,000 tons of biofuel blend available for MSC's container ships. Customers receive an annual certificate for the purchased emissions reduction, which they can then include in their carbon footprint calculations.
Th. Meincke, S. Toft. Photo: O'Hanlon.
Thorsten Meincke, Board Member for Air and Ocean Freight at DB Schenker: "We are doing this out of conviction and are therefore making an upfront investment in the procurement of the maritime fuel. (...) The more customers demand climate neutrality across the entire supply chain, the faster we will achieve clean container ocean freight."
Caroline Becquart, Senior Vice President of MSC: "Decarbonizing ocean freight cannot be achieved by a single actor alone, but requires the collaboration of shipping and logistics companies. MSC Biofuel Solution is our first certified CO2 insetting program that reduces emissions in our customers' supply chains. This accelerates the energy transition by increasing demand for carbon-neutral shipping and enabling direct CO2 savings."
The biofuel can be used in regular ocean freight traffic and fed into the tanks without requiring any technical modifications to the ship or along the supply chain.
C. Becquart. Image: MSC
Biofuel is considered a particularly suitable transitional fuel for decarbonization due to its higher quality (according to EU RED II Annex IX, Parts A and B) and the additionality principle. The additionality principle states that every ton of biofuel is produced "in addition" to the baseline values. This represents an additional reduction in emissions in the overall climate balance and a genuine avoidance of fossil fuels. DB Schenker claims that its biofuel is also "guaranteed free of palm oil and palm oil waste" and does not contribute to land-use change in critical areas where large-scale deforestation and monocultures are being established, displacing local uses.
To reduce container transport emissions by 100%, fuel demand is met through "over-allocation." The additional quantities are also intended to compensate for the emissions generated during the production and transport of the fuel. This, it is said, will enable DB Schenker to achieve net-zero emissions overall and ultimately completely eliminate the use of fossil fuels in sea freight.
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