In 2014, Deutsche Post DHL Group reached its target to increase its usage of green electricity in buildings to 60% of its global demand. This goal, set in 2012, was challenging to reach: as green electricity products are not available in all country and regional markets, some had to increase the share of green electricity far beyond 90%. In the process, the company has learned a lot about deploying green energy in different countries worldwide, how certification schemes are being applied and identified areas for future work.
The project is part of the company’s holistic concept to reduce its environmental impact. Through the GoGreen programme, Deutsche Post DHL Group is implementing technologies to reduce energy consumption (“burn less”) as well as mitigating carbon emissions by switching to sustainable energy sources (“burn clean”). For electricity, a number of transparent and verified approaches to use and trade sustainably generated energy already exist. This, and the addition of more electric vehicles to the company’s fleet, motivated it to look into sustainable energy sources and start with the increased sourcing of green electricity.
The project started in 2012, when Deutsche Post DHL Group’s share of green electricity was at 42% globally. The company reached its 60% goal by achieving 61.3% green electricity usage by the end of 2014. It achieved more than 90% green electricity usage in eleven countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the UK and the USA. As a result of these efforts, Deutsche Post DHL Group was able to avoid more than 450,000 tonnes CO2e in 2014 alone.
As it will be challenging to reach far beyond the 60% level, the company is looking into new targets that further drive operational energy efficiency.