The development and potential adoption of drones or unmanned aerial vehicles as delivery vehicles creates incredible opportunities and unique challenges for last mile delivery. This research first presents a last mile delivery fleet model with drones that can be further modified and expanded over time. The model shows the optimal number of drones needed based on deterministic or stochastic demand using both traditional charging and battery swapping. The research then compares the carbon emissions of four delivery modes: traditional internal combustion delivery vehicles, all-electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids, and drones within the context of last mile delivery. Findings reveal that the breakdown of carbon emissions by delivery modality depends on parameter assumptions, ambient temperature, delivery radius, electric grid pollution rate, and number of customers.


    Access

    Check access

    Check availability in my library

    Order at Subito €


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    Last mile delivery with drones: A carbon emissions comparison


    Additional title:

    J. R. Brown and M. A. Bushuev
    International Journal of Sustainable Transportation


    Contributors:


    Publication date :

    2024-09-01


    Size :

    12 pages




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English




    A Last Mile Delivery Fleet Model with Drones

    Brown, Jay / Bushuev, Maxim | TIBKAT | 2020


    Integration of Drones in Last-Mile Delivery: The Vehicle Routing Problem with Drones

    Schermer, Daniel | British Library Conference Proceedings | 2018


    A Cyber-Physical System's Roadmap to Last-Mile Delivery Drones

    Faical, Bruno S. / Marcondes, Cesar A. C. / Loubach, Denis S. et al. | IEEE | 2023



    Sustainable last mile logistics employing drones and e-bikes

    Santiago-Montaño, Stephanie / Silva, Daniel F. / Smith, Alice E. | Taylor & Francis Verlag | 2024