Team Members: Luigi Soriano (College ’24), Judah Purwanto (College ’25), Hayley Yeung (College ’26), Eugene McCarty
MPSY proposed a 3-pronged strategy of electrifying vehicles, introducing sustainable aviation fuels, and building solar paneled warehouses to bring DHL’s Scope 1 and 2 emissions to zero.
The team first conducted exploratory data analysis using ESG data from DHL and comparable companies, finding the relationship between different energy sources and their carbon emissions. From this, they found that vehicle fuel, jet fuel, and purchased building energy each had a significant contribution to total emissions. From this point on, they predicted the cost of those carbon emissions up to 2040 by forecasting DHL’s future revenues and future cost of goods sold (COGS) share of each of those 3 emissions sources.
To address Scope 1 emissions, MPSY firstly propose that DHL electrifies the rest of their current road vehicle fleet. They specifically propose for them to electrify the remaining 70% of pick-up and delivery vans over the next fifteen years and the remaining 65% of trucks over the next ten years. This also involves installing charging infrastructure, specifically prioritizing urban regions. Secondly, they propose DHL to commit to sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) through extending their existing partnerships with bp and Neste to keep SAF costs low, as well as invest in SAF startups to secure long-term partnerships with green methanol fuel companies.
To combat Scope 2 emissions, the team proposed that DHL convert all of their existing buildings and facilities to be 100% powered by green sources. Investments in on-site solar infrastructure will cover 50% of power needs and the remaining half of power requirements will come from locally supplied Renewable Energy Certificates. RECs can be purchased and represent the property rights to power generated from renewable sources. By dividing power generation between two sources, they ensure that each plant does not have complete reliance on one form of renewable energy, which can vary based on the day and season. We space the rollout over 10 years, converting 75 plants per year to cover the remaining 44.4 % of DHL buildings that aren’t powered by renewable sources. The 6-year period from 2034 – 2040 serves as a buffer in case solarization is more costly or time-consuming than predicted, and any extra renewable energy produced by on-site solar generation can be utilized during this period for plant expansion or carbon offsetting purposes.
This plan of vehicle electrification, using SAFs, and solar paneled warehouses will bring DHL’s scope 1 and 2 emissions to zero.