Deutsche Post DHL aims to reduce emissions

Deutsche Post DHL Group aims to reduce all logistics-related emissions to zero by the year 2050, and is piloting a new City Hub concept that will increase use of cargo bikes for inner-city deliveries.    Deutsche Post DHL Group aims to reduce all logistics-related emissions to zero by the year 2050.
   This endeavor comes in anticipation of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 2015 Paris climate conference (COP 21) goal of limiting global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius, DHL said.
   In addition, DHL said it wants to become the market leader in green logistics and plans to expand its portfolio of green products and services to help customers achieve their own climate protection targets.

   As part of GoGreen, the group’s environmental protection program, the mission of zero emissions logistics is supported by four interim milestones to be achieved by the year 2025, which include DHL:
     • Increasing the carbon efficiency of its own activities and those of its transport subcontractors globally by 50 percent compared to the 2007 baseline;
     • Aiming to operate 70 percent of its own first and last mile services with clean pick-up and delivery solutions, such as by bike and electric vehicle;
     • Incorporating over 50 percent of sales with Green Solutions, making customers’ supply chains greener;
     • Training and certifying 80 percent of its employees as GoGreen specialists by 2025, and actively involving them in its environmental and climate protection activities.

   In addition to the GoGreen campaign, the group is piloting a new City Hub concept that will increase use of cargo bikes for inner-city deliveries.
   Dubbed the DHL Cubicycle, this customized cargo bicycle can carry a container load of up to one-cubic meter in volume. The City Hub is a customized trailer that can carry up to four containers for the DHL Cubicycle that works within the company’s DHL Express branding.
   So far, DHL Express has piloted the City Hub concept in Frankfurt, Germany and Utrecht in the Netherlands. The Cubicycle was developed in the Netherlands and allows the driver to utilize electric pedal assistance, reclining seats and waterproof containers for safety and security.
   According to DHL, each City Hub can replace up to two standard delivery vehicles, with an equivalent CO2 savings of sixteen tons per year.
   “Bicycles offer a number of advantages in express delivery operations: they can bypass traffic congestion and make up to two times as many stops per hour than a delivery vehicle,” DHL Express Europe CEO John Pearson said. “The total cost of ownership over their lifetime is less than half of a van. And crucially, they generate zero emissions, which reinforces our own ongoing program to minimize our environmental footprint and supports city governments’ efforts to promote sustainable city living.”
   Furthermore, the cubicycles can be equipped with GPS to facilitate real-time shipment tracking and security purposes and they are self-powered through the use of solar panels.