DB Schenker, Avolta close agreement in Spain for use of marine biofuels

Photo: DB Schenker

Logistics-service provider DB Schenker announced June 12 that it has signed an agreement with travel retailer Avolta to use marine biofuel for the transport of goods between Europe and the United States.

The agreement is DB Schenker’s first contract of this kind in the Spanish market and places Avolta among the top pioneering companies in low-emission shipping.

From now on, all containers that Avolta moves with DB Schenker on this route will be shipped with low emissions through the application of waste-based marine biofuels and additional units of sustainable marine biofuel to achieve additional compensation of the biofuel’s upstream emissions.

This biofuel switch could prevent over 150 tons of CO2e well-to-wake emissions per year, based on Avolta’s 2023 container volume on this route.

“This agreement, and others that are expected to be closed in the coming months, is possible thanks to the DB Schenker Group’s commitment to the purchase of marine biofuel, which it makes available to its customers around the world who wish to make use of it in their maritime transport,” SB Schenker Group stated.

The fuel utilized is methyl ester biodiesel made from used cooking oil.

The application will be guided by the book-and-claim system, a set of principles that have been developed through a global, multistakeholder process with third-party validation to ensure that the use of this chain-of-custody model has full traceability and credibility, as well as a demonstrable climate impact.

With the use of this nonfossil fuel, DB Schenker said it advances alongside its customers in its commitment to sustainable, low-emission transport.

“Our mission is to help, facilitate, and guide our customers in the sustainable transformation, and on this occasion, we are doing so by offering this biofuel so that they can convert their freight transport into low-emission transport,” said Miguel Ángel de la Torre, the director of maritime transport at DB Schenker Cluster Iberia. “In this way, our customer Avolta is not only pioneering and helping to reduce emissions but is also ahead of the new regulations and associated benefits that will be tightened in the coming years.”

Avolta will use maritime biofuel, which will reduce up to 84 percent of the CO2 emissions, but going even further the company bought an additional allocation of biofuel to reach 100 percent emissions reduction.

“We are taking a strong step forward towards decarbonizing our shipments and route transportations,” said Isabel Zarza, CEO of Southern Europe Avolta. “This agreement represents the starting point of the transition to biofuel for ocean freight, which will contribute to decarbonizing our logistic emissions. Our company’s commitment to sustainability is firm and long-term and, as proof of this, we are planning to increase the volume of containers transported using biofuel, advancing in the low-emissions transportation industry.”

In the context of shipping, the new International Maritime Organization strategy calls for a 40 percent reduction in greenhouse gases by 2030 and for at least 10 percent of the energy used in shipping to come from zero-energy sources, to achieve net-zero greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050.