Power of Logistics” initiative

Environmentally friendly energy generation is becoming increasingly important in the face of climate change. A lot is happening in the industrial and commercial sectors in particular to implement climate-friendly concepts in practice. One example of this is photovoltaic systems on the roofs of industrial and logistics buildings. Even though more and more companies are using this type of power generation for themselves, there is still a lot of untapped potential in this area. The “Power of Logistics” initiative of the Bundesvereinigung Logistik e.V. is committed to making this potential visible.

In the last ten years, around 50 million square meters of roof space have been built on German logistics properties. 30 million of these are ideally suited for the installation of photovoltaic systems – but only a small proportion has been used for this purpose to date. The amount of solar power that could be generated in this way would not only be enough to meet the needs of large logistics properties in particular, but could also be fed into the public grid to support municipalities and cities with climate-friendly energy supply. For example, 2.5 terawatt hours of solar power could be generated on the roof surfaces of logistics properties built between 2012 and 2022 alone, which could save around 960,000 tons of_CO2 per year. If solar radiation is particularly strong, the surplus electricity could also be used to produce hydrogen in order to reduce the load on the electricity grid. This can then be used as a fuel for vehicles, for example.

However, the “Power of Logistics” initiative is not only concerned with photovoltaic systems, even though these account for the majority of environmentally friendly energy generation in logistics properties. It also discusses how wind turbines in business parks, combined heat and power plants and water heat pumps can be used to produce climate-friendly energy and support surrounding communities and cities. Kuno Neumeier, CEO of the Logivest Group, spokesperson for the BVL’s logistics real estate group and initiator of the initiative, explains: “With the ‘Power of Logistics’ initiative, we want to highlight the potential of logistics real estate for the energy transition and promote the expansion of renewable energies and the use of surplus logistics capacity.” To achieve this, logistics initiatives from all over Germany as well as stakeholders from the logistics and logistics real estate sector must be united and hurdles overcome. Processes such as planning, material procurement, installation and grid connection are to be simplified with the help of the initiative, as is the bureaucratic effort.

In addition to the idea of sustainability, the “Power of Logistics” initiative also focuses on the reputation of logistics – because many people tend to associate the term “logistics” with things like traffic jams and air pollution. According to Kuno Neumeier, it is therefore time to bring about a rethink in society. Feeding climate-friendly electricity produced by logistics properties into the public grid would create added value for the region and could thus enhance the reputation of logistics.

Author: Boris Kretzinger