Abstract
Urban parcel delivery is increasingly restricted by regulations limiting access to certain heavy or high emitting vehicles to reduce emissions and noise pollution in cities. Cargo bikes represent an alternative solution that enables deliveries with low environmental impact, but they may represent a higher economic cost and come with constraints like battery autonomy or small loading capacity. As a transport scheme relying on bikes for the last miles with fewer externalities, it is regarded as an environmentally friendly choice, and economic sustainability is assessed. This paper aims to present the environmental and economic aspects of different delivery means of transport in European urban areas. Life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology is selected to analyse the environmental impact of several vehicles, allowing us to quantify the emissions according to the loading factor. The electricity mix is an important parameter and makes the results vary according to the country studied. For the economic aspect, the cost price allows us to quantify the operational cost of each means of transport. A trade-off can thus be made between the two.
Highlights
Introduction and BackgroundThe European Green Deal has set a target of reducing transport-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 90% by 2050 compared to 1990 [1]
The research questions tackled in this paper are: Which vehicle is the least impactful in terms of CO2 eq / NOx eq emissions? How does each vehicle perform according to the electricity mix? Which vehicle is the least expensive for delivery service? This paper aims to identify characteristics that can explain the variability of environmental impacts within different countries
Our study is based on the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology; we carry out the study on a European mix, we compare five countries in more detail
Summary
The European Green Deal has set a target of reducing transport-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 90% by 2050 compared to 1990 [1]. Transport accounts for a quarter of all EU GHG emissions. Road freight transport is dominated by internal combustion engine vehicles running on fossil fuels [3]. In [4], the authors show that decarbonisation might be accomplished as a consequence of an electrification of the transport sector in its fleets, with a renewable electricity mix. Modal shift is needed to move people and freight from polluting vehicles to sustainable transport modes [5]. A promising way to reduce emissions from the transport sector can be to consider modal shift from road to rail, or inland waterways [6,7,8,9,10]
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