The 83 million Gallon Deal That Rewrote U.S. Green Aviation Targets

A landmark agreement between global logistics titan DHL Group and energy leader Phillips 66 has established a new gold standard for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) procurement, simultaneously accelerating the decarbonization timeline for the entire air cargo sector.

The multi-year contract commits DHL Express to purchasing over 240,000 metric tons (approximately 83 million gallons) of SAF. This staggering volume, one of the largest SAF agreements ever secured by a U.S. producer, is projected to reduce lifecycle Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions by a colossal 737,000 metric tons of CO2 equivalent.

To put that figure into perspective, this single corporate commitment for future fuel supply nearly matches the more than 750,000 metric tons of cumulative domestic GHG emission reduction realized through the entire U.S. Sustainable Aviation Fuel Grand Challenge through September 2024.The deal proves that massive, long-term commercial off-take agreements are the most powerful catalyst currently driving large-scale decarbonization.

Billion-Euro Commitment Meets Billion-Dollar Conversion

This procurement is a direct execution of DHL Group’s ambitious Sustainability Roadmap, which dedicates €7 billion in investment through 2030 to drastically cut CO2 emissions. The company aims to cover at least 30% of its fuel requirements with sustainable fuels by the end of the decade.

The fuel itself will be delivered primarily to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) from Phillips 66’s Rodeo Renewable Energy Complex in California. This complex represents a massive, billion-dollar transformation where Phillips 66 permanently ceased crude oil processing at its 128-year-old refinery. The site, now one of the world's largest renewable fuel facilities, was retrofitted to exclusively process waste feedstocks- such as used cooking oil, fats, and greases- and boasts a specific SAF production capacity of 150 million gallons per year. By focusing on low-carbon-intensity feedstocks, the producer maximizes its environmental impact and financial returns under state regulations.

For DHL customers, the agreement directly underpins the popular GoGreen Plus service. By opting into this program, shippers fund the direct use of SAF in DHL flights, leveraging a “carbon insetting” mechanism that allows them to officially reduce their own tricky-to-manage Scope 3 supply chain emissions.

This transaction isn't just a fuel deal; it is the ultimate blueprint for the logistics industry: a massive, committed corporate demand signal that de-risks the high-CAPEX infrastructure investment required to secure a sustainable future for global air cargo.