DHL Express enters in aviation’s largest SAF certificate deal with World Energy

Tobias Meyer, CEO DHL Group (left) and Gene Gebolys, CEO World Energy sign SAFc agreement.

DHL Express signed a long-term strategic agreement with World Energy to purchase around 668m liters of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) via sustainable aviation fuel certificates.

The seven-year contract will run through 2030 and is one of the longest and largest SAFc agreements in the aviation industry to date.

“By partnering with World Energy and confirming this milestone agreement, we are taking another concrete leap towards minimising our carbon footprint and contributing to a more sustainable future,” said John Pearson, CEO DHL Express. 

The agreement is expected to reduce around 1.7m tonnes of CO2 emissions over the aviation fuel lifecycle – equivalent to handling 77,000 annual aircraft movements of DHL Express in the Americas carbon neutrally for a full year.

The fuel itself will be supplied to Los Angeles area airports, close to World Energy’s production facility in Paramount, California.

The agreement envisages book and claim approach chain custody model to trace volumes. The model allows DHL Express to purchase SAF certificates, utilize the associated emission reductions, and extend the environmental attributes to its customers through the GoGreen Plus service.

In addition, all volumes will be traced through an independent registry to ensure traceability of claims related to SAFc.