H.Essers pioneers with unique ‘HVO insetting’ concept
H.Essers launches the ‘HVO insetting’ concept, which allows companies to reduce the carbon footprint of their transports directly. There is no external compensation, but due to the use of HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable oil), an eco-friendly biodiesel made from waste, emissions are almost completely eliminated.
“An increasing number of our customers want to make their supply chain more climate-friendly and have set themselves the goal of reducing the emissions of all greenhouse gasses – the so-called CO2 emission – of their transports by a certain percentage. With offsetting, they pay a surcharge to compensate for those emissions by planting trees, investing in windmills and so on. ‘Insetting’, on the other hand, reduces the emissions themselves, using a unique, pioneering method of internal compensation,” says Yannick Dylst, Project Manager Sustainability at H.Essers.
As a leading logistics service provider, we want to take a leading role in sustainable business. That is why we explicitly chose not to work on a sustainability strategy, but to follow a sustainable strategy. This insetting concept is therefore a perfect fit.
What is HVO?
The basis of the insetting concept is the use of HVO, a second generation biodiesel. It is made from waste products and fats from the food industry (not from food crops). It is the most sustainable diesel fuel on the market today, emitting up to 90% less CO2, 30% less particulates and 9% less nitrogen oxides (NOx) compared to regular diesel. The CO2 savings are even 100% if you look at the consumption of at the pump (‘tank to wheel’). HVO can be used as a fuel for almost any modern truck without any engine modifications.
What is the insetting concept?
HVO is still only available to a limited extent in public filling stations in Europe. That is why H.Essers is pioneering with its unique insetting concept. HVO is available at its own filling station in Tessenderlo, but not necessarily for our insetting customer’s transports. For each transport order, the amount of diesel consumed is transparently calculated. That volume is then be compensated internally with transports where HVO is used. With this system, return journeys of customers who do not participate in the insetting programme can also be taken into account. Thanks to the so-called ‘mass balancing’ principle, the transports of the insetting customer are decarbonized by direct allocation of HVO transports in the own H.Essers network. This makes the concept unique.
“The customer can decide whether he wants to decarbonize 25%, 50%, 75% or 100% used for of the diesel consumption of his transports. This percentage can also be varied for each individual route,” explains Yannick Dylst.
Transparency and external control
The reduction in CO2 emissions is calculated according to the GLEC methodology of the Global Logistics Emission Council. We report the amount of HVO used and both the ‘well to wheel’ and ‘tank to wheel’ reduction in CO2 emissions to customers each quarter. In order to ensure full transparency, we appointed Deloitte to conduct an annual assurance audit. Both the set-up and processes at H.Essers and the compliance with contractual agreements with the customer are subject to this external control.
“Initially, we are launching the insetting concept for transports with full trucks (FTL) and dedicated transports. “In addition, this concept offers an excellent opportunity to compensate for unavoidable pre- and post-transports in intermodal transport. For the time being, the transport of groupage and partial loads remains outside the programme because manual allocation is still too complex and labour-intensive,” says Yannick Dylst.
Would you like to know more about the HVO insetting concept and how it can help your company achieve its climate objectives? Yannick Dylst (yannick.dylst@essers.com) will be pleased to help.