Think Tank

On 24 February 2023, Daher—the French industrial conglomerate with foci across the aerospace, defense, nuclear, and automotive industrial sectors—unveiled a PUR-XTL biofuel tank by dint of which the truck fleet at Daher’s Cornebarrieu, France facility will henceforth be fueled. The measure instantiates Daher’s determination to accelerate the decarbonization of its logistics activities.

The installation of the PUR-XTL biofuel tank is a key step in the ongoing rollout of the Daher Group’s preferred biofuel. Such green fuels—made from waste animal and vegetable oils and greases—are ostensibly capable of reducing motor-vehicle CO2 emissions by up to ninety-percent.

Logistics is among Daher’s high-profile sectors in and around its Toulouse headquarters and encompasses receiving, warehousing, and preparing aircraft sub-assemblies for delivery to numerous Airbus assembly lines. The route by which Daher transports engines and aircraft components from Toulouse to Airbus production plants in Hamburg, Germany accounts for sixty-percent of the 3.5-million-kilometers traveled annually by Daher’s truck fleet.

The unveiling of the first PUR-XTL biofuel tank at the Daher’s logistics hub in Cornebarrieu speaks compellingly to the company’s commitment to making legitimate contributions to the emergence of a more eco-responsible iteration of its logistics enterprise.

Averaging between 25 and 35 liters of diesel fuel burned per every one-hundred kilometers driven, road transportation is among the largest CO2 emitters in Daher’s supply chain. This fact compelled Daher’s leadership to commission study of new means by which to reconcile logistics efficiency with environmental performance.

Altens PUR-XTL biofuel is being gradually rolled out to fuel all Daher diesel-powered trucks. However, as biofuels are not widely proffered by roadside fuel purveyors, Daher elected to install the 30,000-liter tank at its Cornebarrieu logistics hub and to power all local trucking with the PUR-XTL fuel. The initial €50,000 investment entails a ten-percent cost premium over conventional fuels, and reflects Daher's commitment to reducing its carbon emissions.

What’s more, Daher intends to install a second PUR-XTL tank in 2024 at its Roissy site. In so doing, the company will occasion one-hundred-percent biofuel-powered trucking between Toulouse, Roissy, and Hamburg—a route which accounts for eighty-percent of the distance traveled annually by Daher’s truck fleet.

Trucks outbound from Hamburg will source their fuel from German filling stations, which are slated to begin offering biofuels this year. 

Compounded by Altens, a company specializing in one-hundred-percent renewable alternative fuels, PUR-XTL is fully-compatible with all diesel truck engines, requires no vehicle conversion, and—compared to conventional diesel fuel—delivers like-for-like engine response and performance.

Developed in accordance with the circular model—which articulates the logic by which an organization creates, offers, and delivers value to its broader range of stakeholders while minimizing ecological and social costs—PUR-XTL is produced by the refinement of recycled edible oils, animal fats, and other residual materials. The fuel delivers exothermic output equal to that of conventional diesel, with no perceptible change in fuel consumption and no requirements for additional engine or vehicle maintenance.

The new PUR-XTL tank and its ancillary systems have been installed at Daher by Altens, which will facilitate future fuel deliveries by which Daher’s tank will be kept topped-up.

FMI: www.daher.com