aiming to halve carbon emissions from the shipping sector by 2040 , ports and terminals are vital partners in helping all businesses in our industry to reach global emission reduction goals .
“ Maybe the biggest subject right now is decarbonisation . It ’ s the single biggest subject outside the constraints and the physical movement of goods ,” says Tiemen .
“ It needs to happen and so went to our board . We have our vision for 2040 and 2050 , and that ’ s fine , but it ’ s really what we can do now and what technologies we can deploy now for quick results .
“ For example , marine fuels will take longer to fix , but we can apply electrification , and we can apply what we call green certification – buying green energy from sustainable sources wherever possible , even if it is at a premium . We rolled that out and the board gave us half a billion dollars in terms to deploy these measures .”
The focus in Ports & Terminals is electrification and Tiemen explains that they are trying to remove the diesel engine where possible . Ironically , one barrier is supply – with electric vehicle manufacturers facing incredible demand .
Over the next five years , DP World will be replacing around 1,100 diesel tractors with electric alternatives . That accounts for almost half of the current global fleet .
Of course , those electric vehicles will also need power , and Tiemen admits that DP World is “ a huge consumer of electricity ”, which is why green certification is a crucial step , and why the company is experimenting with cleaner or alternative fuels .
“ I ’ m optimistic that we can significantly reduce emissions over the next five years ,” he says . “ In all honesty , the challenge will be those countries that haven ’ t got their act together converting their grid to green .
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“ If you have a global supply chain and you have production in four countries and decide to nearshore , then that is not going to happen quickly , it ’ s actually very slow ”
30 June 2023