Up to 5 per cent of the DMK Group's total emissions are caused by milk transport from farms, with DMK's own fleet of milk tankers accounting for the largest share. This is an enormous potential that the company now wants to realise by switching to the climate-friendly bio-LNG fuel. At the Edewecht site, the first three milk collection trucks with low CO2 fuel are already reliably in use, and a total of 13 vehicles are to be successively put into operation there by the end of 2024. The roll-out of the new drive system to the rest of the DMK fleet, which is stationed at other locations, will follow in a second step. In total, all 80 DMK milk collection vehicles are to be converted by 2027, saving around 13,500 tonnes of CO2 per year.
‘Converting our fleet to bio-LNG is an important step towards reducing our carbon footprint. Whether truck fleets will be operated sustainably with e-mobility or hydrogen technology in the future is still unclear today. However, with bio-LNG as a bridging technology between diesel and the power system of the future, we are already working on decarbonising our fleet today and are proud to be the first dairy cooperative to take this path. We want to continue to fulfil our responsibility as a major food producer and show that we can and want to change. However, it is also clear that we can only achieve this together and that we also need a political framework that supports companies on their journey. In this context, I therefore cannot understand why the CO2 fee for the new, climate-friendly collection trucks is still just as high as for conventional diesel vehicles,’ says Thomas Hermann, COO Supply Chain Management at the DMK Group. 

Together for tomorrow 
As the project represents an important milestone for DMK in achieving its own climate targets, the company has brought experienced partners on board. The new chassis with bio-LNG drive come from truck manufacturer Volvo. The basis for the supply of the climate-friendly fuel is a contract with Alternoil GmbH from Steinfeld and Wilhelm Hoyer B.V. & Co. KG from Visselhövede. Both companies are working through the joint venture HALNG to further expand the nationwide refuelling station network for climate-neutral fuels. Bio-LNG is also produced at an own plant in Burghaun near Fulda. The alternative fuel is produced from biomethane, which comes from certified biological waste utilisation, for example.
Together with Hoyer-Alternoil LNG GmbH (HALNG), DMK built a bio-LNG fuelling station at the Edewecht site and put it into operation in May this year. It is operated by Alternoil and ensures that the milk trucks are refuelled on site. Moreover, the refuelling station is not only available to DMK's own fleet but can also be used by partner hauliers. DMK is thus supporting the expansion of the refuelling station network and promoting the use of climate-friendly drive systems outside its own fleet.