Abstract
Energy conservation, cost, and emission reduction are the research topics of most concern today. The aim of this paper is to reduce the cost and carbon emissions and improve the sustainable development of sheep transportation. Under the typical case of the “farmers–middlemen–slaughterhouses” (FMS) supply model, this paper comprehensively analyzed the factors, sources, and types of cost and carbon emissions in the process of sheep transportation, and a quantitative evaluation model was established. The genetic algorithm (GA) was proposed to search for the optimal path of sheep transportation, and then the model solving algorithm was designed based on the basic GA. The results of path optimization indicated that the optimal solution can be obtained effectively when the range of basic parameters of GA was set reasonably. The optimal solution is the optimal path and the shortest distance under the supply mode of FMS, and the route distance of the optimal path is 245.6 km less than that of random path. From the cost distribution, the fuel power cost of the vehicle, labor cost in transportation, and consumables cost account for a large proportion, while the operation and management cost of the vehicle and depreciation cost of the tires account for a small proportion. The total cost of the optimal path is 26.5% lower than that of the random path, and the total carbon emissions are 36.3% lower than that of random path. Path optimization can thus significantly reduce the cost of different types and significantly reduce the proportion of vehicle fuel power cost and consumables cost, but the degree of cost reduction of different types is different. The result of the optimal path is the key to be explored in this study, and it can be used as the best reference for sheep transportation. The quantitative evaluation model established in this paper can systematically measure the cost and carbon emissions generated in the sheep transportation, which can provide theoretical support for practical application.
Highlights
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From the perspective of cost and energy consumption reduction, through field investigation and theoretical analysis, this research evaluated the sustainability of FMS sheep supply model, which exits in various regions of China
The genetic algorithm (GA) was proposed to search for the optimal path of sheep transportation, and the model solving algorithm was designed based on the basic GA
Summary
In China, the livestock industry has contributed a lot to the economic development. As an important link to ensure the sustainable development of the sheep industry, is often limited by the relatively widespread distribution of small-scale farming methods in China. Under this supply mode, farmers are usually scattered in rural areas in large numbers, but the scale of farming is not large; slaughterhouses are generally concentrated and appear in small numbers. The middlemen are generally local businessmen engaged in sheep farming or trafficking. They provide lambs to farmers, purchase transportation trucks, and are responsible for the unified recovery of adult fattening sheep. It is necessary to further strengthen the research on the evaluation and optimization methods of sheep transportation
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