Many delivery companies are investing in automated delivery systems, be that a drone, autonomous truck or a robot. Speed is the key in the fierce online ordered delivery world. While these leaps in technology are fast, are they necessarily good of the environment?
According to new research, the answer is ‘no’. While at their best many of the new delivery technologies are no worse for the environment compared with a person driving a vehicle they are certainly not any better. Moreover, as the delivery battle continues to heat up society is likely to see far more autonomous devices on the streets and in the skies in the future than was ever possible with a standard vehicle controlled by a human driver.
The analyses hails from the University of Michigan, where engineers examined three scenarios in order to calculate the carbon footprint:
- Conventional delivery. Here a human drives the vehicle the “last mile” around the neighborhood and delivers each package to the doorstep also referred to, in the delivery business, as the “final 50-feet”
- Partially automated, whereby a human drives the last mile and a robot completes the final 50 feet.
- Fully automated, in which a connected and automated vehicle drives the last mile and a robot takes parcels to doorsteps.
The events were modelled several times, looking at twelve different suburban delivery scenarios in order to create a reliable data set.
The calculations showed that the smallest carbon footprint, assessed at 167 grams of carbon dioxide per package came from conventional delivery with the smaller, electric van. In contrast, the greatest carbon dioxide emissions were 486 grams per package. This largest value came from the partially automated scenario that relied on the larger, gas-powered van and a two-legged robot.
The full-automation solution was approximately equal to the conventional delivery system, although considering that no single automated delivery system will suit all situations, the results may turn out to be more variable as different companies develop different forms of technology.
This lead the main researcher, Professor Gregory Keoleian to conclude: “Results suggest that automated delivery systems could have slightly greater life cycle greenhouse gas emissions than conventional delivery systems for smaller-sized vans, but there is potential opportunity to reduce emissions for larger-sized vans.”
The research appears in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, where the peer reviewed research is titled “Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions for Last-Mile Parcel Delivery by Automated Vehicles and Robots.”
