Deutsche Post World Net to use green electricity across Germany

Deutsche Post World Net is continuing to set climate-protection standards in the logistics sector by launching a program at the beginning of the New Year that will use renewable energies to meet nearly all of the company's electricity needs in Germany. The new electricity contracts cover each of the 115 mail and parcel centers as well as all other real estate, including logistics and administrative locations.

The Group's headquarters - the Post Tower in Bonn - has been using only green electricity since the beginning of 2008. By making the switch to green electricity throughout Germany, Deutsche Post will reduce CO2 emissions by around 400,000 tons a year, the equivalent of per-capita emissions produced annually by a city of more than 30,000 residents.

"As the world's leading logistics group, we also want to play a leading role in climate protection," says Dr. Winfried Häser, the Director of Environmental Strategy and Policy at Deutsche Post World Net. "The switch to green electricity in Germany makes a significant contribution toward reaching our climate-protection goal."

The decision to use green electricity represents the biggest step taken to date to reduce CO2 emissions in Deutsche Post World Net's real-estate property. As a result, it is a critical component of the climate protection program GoGreen, with which the Group intends to improve its own CO2 efficiency as well as that of its subcontractors by 30 percent through 2020.

Broad potential for saving energy

For a year now, Deutsche Post World Net has been getting about two-thirds of its electricity in Germany from regional energy providers who use renewable sources. This share will now be increased to 100 percent under framework agreements signed a year ago. Real estate is one of the areas at Deutsche Post World Net with broad potential for saving energy and counteracting climate change.

As part of GoGreen, the Group is working to improve the measurement of carbon-dioxide emissions in order to identify other ways of saving energy and preventing CO2 emissions. In addition to the switch to green electricity, efficient lighting systems are being used in existing buildings, and heating and air-conditioning are being optimized. In new buildings, the company will draw on architectural and technical innovations designed to use energy more efficiently.

Additionally, the Group and its DHL Neutral Services subsidiary helps customers evaluate and optimize their real estate according to climate-protection standards. The latest example of this work is the modification of the central distribution center run by the telecommunications provider O2 in Wakefield, Great Britain. This facility has been converted into a climate-neutral warehouse.