Exclusive: DHL reveals clean tech incubation unit

Logistics giant DHL has revealed it is to set up a clean technology "incubation unit", designed to fund innovative startups capable of helping the firm cut carbon emissions across its global operations.

In an exclusive interview with BusinessGreen.com, Karl Feilder, chief executive of DHL neutral services – a division of the company set up to reduce its carbon footprint, said the company was struggling to source low carbon technologies, such as electric vans, on a scale sufficient to meet its ambitious target of cutting emissions by 30 per cent by 2030.

"We've seen a few technologies in pilot and first deployment stage," he said. "But the businesses are not ready to go to the scale of production we need. So we created the unit to provide initial capital to startups."

He added that the unit is already sponsoring a number of clean tech companies and is hoping to test their technologies on a sample of 50 vehicles to analyse their effectiveness.

The company hopes that the funding programme will help kick-start innovation in a sector that Feilder believes has been traditionally poorly served by automotive firms more focused on the consumer market.

"It's often said in the company that there's a lot more technology in a taxi than in one of our trucks, and that is something we want to change," said Feilder.