Sailing the ocean green?

It turns out there’s more to cutting your car’s carbon footprint than just choosing an electric or hybrid/electric model or limiting trips. For instance, you can also reduce your vehicle’s environmental impact by limiting upstream supply chain inputs such as the pollution generated by importing automotive spare parts.

Global logistics service provider DB Schenker recently launched a program that will help consumers do just that. It is now shipping automotive spare parts on vessels powered by a biofuel called UCOME (used cooking oil methyl ester).

The German company has already partnered with Volvo Cars to ship 12,000 standard containers (TEUs) of automotive parts on the biofuel-powered vessels, a practice that’s expected to reduce CO₂ emissions by 84% per container. This will save roughly 9,000 tons of CO₂ compared to ocean freight vessels powered by fossil fuel, Schenker says. The program started in June and connects Volvo Cars’ Gothenburg, Sweden, production plant with the U.S. ports of Savannah, Newark, and New York.

“We are proud that a recognized brand such as Volvo Cars joins us at DB Schenker on our way to a future of cleaner logistics,” Thorsten Meincke, global board member for air and ocean freight at DB Schenker, said in a release. “Our promise is to support customers in reducing their Scope 3 emissions coming from transportation and distribution. We will only succeed in shaping sustainable supply chains if shippers, forwarders, and carriers work closely together.”