11 industry majors pave way for accelerating energy transition

Eleven industry majors including AWS, Carrefour Group, CMA CGM Group, Cluster Maritime Français, Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, Engie, Faurecia, Michelin, Schneider Electric, Total and Wärtsilä have formed a coalition for the energy of the future.

The coalition aims to accelerate the development of energy sources and technologies to address the challenges posed by sustainable mobility in the transport and logistics industry by reducing emissions, fighting global warming and protecting biodiversity.

The 11 existing members are pooling their expertise in pursuit of three key goals to achieve genuine technological breakthroughs with tangible results by 2030:

• Unlock a more extensive portfolio of clean energy sources,
• Lower energy consumption per kilometer-equivalent of goods transported,
• Eliminate a substantial proportion of emissions linked to transport and logistics.

Over the past few months, the coalition has established nine working groups with several dozen participants to devise nine concrete projects that will help shape the energy sources of the future:

• Develop green hydrogen procurement solutions for the transport sector,
• Develop biofuels for the various modes of transport,
• Expand the use of biogas and synthetic gases in transport,
• Replace fossil fuels with green energy across the supply chain,
• Launch zero-emission vehicle pilot projects by the end of 2021,
• Create a digital door-to-door route planning system that calculates the option with the lowest environmental impact,
• Optimize the operational management and loading to step up the energy efficiency of each ton carried,
• Make multimodal platforms more environmentally friendly for logistics applications,
• Consolidate methods used to measure the impact of energy transition projects in transport and logistics.

“In view of the challenges facing the world, we must unite our strengths in order to accelerate the energy transition of the transport and logistics industry. I am delighted that 11 global corporations, leaders in their respective fields, have joined this initiative. CMA CGM will provide all its expertise and experience to this first large global multisectoral coalition, supported by the President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron. We are all fully mobilized to produce concrete short, medium-and-long-term solutions,” Rodolphe Saade, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the CMA CGM Group,  said.

“Through the development of smart technologies, research into alternative future fuels, and our holistic approach to raising efficiencies in all aspects of shipping and port operations to create a Smart Marine Ecosystem, we have shown our commitment to promoting decarbonization. We are, therefore, proud to be part of this coalition which perfectly aligns with our purpose to enable sustainable societies with smart technology,” Jaakko Eskola, President and Chief Executive Officer of Wärtsilä, added.

The coalition was launched in late 2019 during the French Maritime Economy Conference and has received the backing of French President Emmanuel Macron. It is open to new members.