Green horsepower for BMW in Leipzig

Leipzig/Hamburg, May 16, 2018 With immediate effect the haulage company Konrad Zippel has implemented a climate-friendly and cost-efficient solution to powering supplier logistics at BMW’s Leipzig plant. In combined transport networks the Hamburg haulage experts have always powered their own trains using electric transmissions, transporting freight almost emissions-free. Now there is also a practical solution for decarbonising the last mile to the customer. To achieve this, Konrad Zippel is using four new SCANIA CNG (compressed natural gas) powered trucks and Straw in Tank – with 100 percent biomethane from VERBIO. 

Compared to a classic diesel powertrain the biomethane-powered engine achieves a 90 percent CO2 reduction by using fuel from waste materials and from straw, thereby also significantly contrib-uting to the reduction of fine-particle and nitrogen oxide emissions. In view of the growing economic and environmental demands on road transport, the CNG engine using methane from renewable sources is currently the only and most efficient alternative solution to diesel.

Container transport combines two primary characteristics: transporting heavy loads and large dis-tances. In this sector e-mobility is definitely not an option in the foreseeable future. An alternative is available in the form of methane-powered engines which can be CNG (compressed natural gas) or LNG (liquefied natural gas) – CNG in very cold, fluid form – which can be used to transport heavy vehicles with a range suitable for international transport.

“We took notice of the alternative energy sources while taking part in the sustainable power working group in the Port of Hamburg, and then deepened our engagement by talking to Scania and VERBIO,” explained Axel Kröger, shareholder and managing director of Konrad Zippel. Under consid-eration of the usage of the vehicles the haulier chose to acquire the four SCANIA C 340 trucks using CNG fuel. The Zippel trucks refuel with biomethane from VERBIO at the Agip filling station on the B2, close to the A14 motorway. “This is strategically well positioned, a stone’s throw from the BMW plant and on the route to the combined terminal at Schkopau, where we transfer our freight from the Port of Hamburg from rail to road transport and vice versa – also for other custom-ers,” said Axel Kröger.

Bernd Sauter, VERBIO AG’s Management Board member for logistics, added, “We ferment straw to biogas in Schwedt/Oder, which is processed to natural gas quality standards and pumped into the natural gas network and offered for sale at the filling station in Leipzig.” Straw is an agricultural residue product, and large quantities of it have remained unused until now, as Bernd Sauter ex-plains: “Nobody needs to worry that raw materials for food will be used here – we use only straw, Straw in Tank. In Germany there are approximately eight to thirteen tonnes available annually which can be used for this purpose.”

After VERBIO’s own fleet of five IVECO CNG/biomethane trucks, the Zippel group’s SCANIA fleet is Germany’s second largest commercial transport fleet to use this modern alternative fuel.

Axel Kröger stated that his company’s first experience with the CNG trucks was very positive fol-lowing approximately three months of operation, both from a business point of view as well as in terms of driver satisfaction. As a result he concluded, “These are results that we did not expect so quickly, and which make us optimistic that we can expand the SCANIA CNG fleet.” Verbiogas may also be in use in combined transport systems in the Berlin region in the future. The filling station network is extensive, and verbiogas can be transported in a cost- and CO2-efficient manner to every CNG filling station in Germany using the gas pipeline supply network.

Images (© VERBIO AG):
Picture 1: One of the new Zippel trucks at the Schkopau container terminal
Picture 2: VERBIO’s own CNG truck fleet

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Information about VERBIO Vereinigte BioEnergie AG (VERBIO)
VERBIO is one of the leading independent producers and suppliers of biofuels, and is also the only large-scale producer of biodiesel, bioethanol and biomethane in Europe. The annual production capacity amounts to approximately 470,000 tonnes of biodiesel, 260,000 tonnes of bioethanol and 600 gigawatt hours of biomethane. The Company produces its highly efficient fuels using internally developed, energy efficient production processes and innovative technologies. VERBIO's biofuels achieve CO2 reductions of up to 90 percent compared to petrol or diesel. VERBIO delivers its products directly to European oil companies, oil trading companies, independent filling stations, freight forwarders, municipal utilities and vehicle fleets. In addition VERBIO markets high-quality pharmaceutical glycerine for the consumer goods and cosmetics industry (glycerine is produced as a by-product in the production of biodiesel) as well as animal feed and fertiliser, a by-product of bioethanol and biomethane production. Within the Group, VERBIO Vereinigte BioEnergie AG acts as a management holding company. The operative business is conducted by the subsidiaries VERBIO Diesel Bitterfeld GmbH, VERBIO Diesel Schwedt GmbH & Co. KG, VERBIO Ethanol Schwedt GmbH & Co. KG, VERBIO Ethanol Zörbig GmbH & Co. KG, VERBIO Agrar GmbH, VERBIO Logistik GmbH and VERBIO Polska Sp. z o.o. The VERBIO share (ISIN DE000A0JL9W6/WKN A0JL9W) has been listed in the prime standard segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since October 2006.I

nformationen about Konrad Zippel Spediteur GmbH & Co. KG
The history of the Hamburg haulage company Konrad Zippel Spediteur GmbH & Co. KG began more than 140 years ago with a horse and cart. Today, Zippel is regarded as one of the strongest multi-modal container operators in the market with a lot of experience and competence in both road and rail transport. The company's innovative haulage business connects the important German and European economic centres with German North Sea ports. To do this Zippel offers services in the three core areas, container transport, general cargo and storage. The Zippel transport and logistics network includes the scheduling of more than 200 conventional and container trucks each day. In addition, 12 of our own container block trains each week move freight from the seaports of Hamburg and Bremerhaven to Berlin and Schkopau (Leipzig) with around 4,200 TEU each week. Our qualified and trained staff ensure the optimal planning, scheduling and delivery of general freight, partial and full truck loads. Based on the cargo space required, the appropriate freight capacity is made available on a punctual basis. Zippel Logistik's warehousing at Dummerstorf, near Rostock, encompasses the management of a total of 12,000 m² of covered warehouse space with 21 gates, divided into high-bay and block storage areas and picking and transshipment areas. Additionally, the site includes a heavy-load open-air area encompassing 16,000 m², as well as storage and parking areas comprising 10,000 m². Zippel has a further 4,500 m² temperature-controlled external warehouse for the storage of sensitive or dangerous goods.