Greener transports for a smaller climate footprint

Inspiring change beyond our supply chain

Goods transport by sea, road, and rail account for a significant portion of our total CO₂ emissions. We will find new ways to innovate and reduce CO₂ emissions by working directly with suppliers, governments and other partners. We’re working to create a positive impact, not only for our own operations and products, but the transport industry as a whole.

Around 5% of the climate footprint in the IKEA value chain came from product transports, and is divided between land and ocean.

Biofuel onboard

Shipping is the most carbon-efficient means of global transport today, but it’s still one of the world’s most polluting industries, using fossil-based, heavy fuel oil to power vessels. Together with industry partners, we have invested in the development of a brand-new biofuel made from cooking oil waste and forest residue. Switching to the new biofuel is easy – there’s no need to upgrade existing engines, and it reduces CO₂ emissions with 80-90%.

This new sustainable biofuel was piloted in FY19, and we continued to successfully scale up its usage during FY20. As a result, the share of alternative fuels jumped from 1% in FY19 to 3% in FY20, a significant step towards increasing the use of renewable fuels.

The benefits of biofuel

One-third of all IKEA truck transports within Sweden use HVO, a biofuel that’s nearly identical to conventional diesel – except for the bad stuff. HVO is made from 100% renewable materials like waste cooking oil, animal fat and in some cases first generation biofuel. It produces up to 90% less greenhouse gas emissions than fossil diesel. We only use second generation biofuel that is produced from waste.

Biofuels are almost too good to be true. They can be derived directly from plants or indirectly from agricultural, commercial, domestic, and industrial waste, which means they don’t exploit the planet. Biofuels are also carbon-neutral – the CO₂ released is equal to the CO₂ that was absorbed by the plants during their lifetime.

Even though the use of biofuels is not a long-term solution, we believe that it is a stepping stone to more sustainable solutions in the future.

Transport by rail – stable and sustainable

From a climate perspective, trains are an excellent alternative to conventional diesel-powered trucks. The well-established rail network and the availability of low-carbon electricity in Europe makes it a practical, clean and green way to deliver goods from distribution centres to most IKEA stores in Europe.

Rail freight reduces CO₂ emissions and eliminates pollutants along transport routes. Intermodal rail transport – the use of more than one type of transportation for a journey to optimise climate efficiency – currently accounts for 8% of IKEA goods transport. We will increase this rate significantly in the future.