How battery electric vehicles can contribute to sustainable urban logistics: A real-world application in Lisbon, Portugal

Duarte, Gonçalo; Rolim, Catarina; Baptista, Patrícia

doi:10.1016/j.seta.2016.03.006

Cited by 39 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…For that purpose, a case study in the city of Porto, Portugal, was developed to estimate the effects of replacing vans by cargo bikes to deliver parcels at a pre-defined limited spatial coverage. This research follows previous works from authors [3,10,11], that had already identified that the geographical scope of the implementation of light electric commercial vehicles is not the city level, but rather specific areas within the city with maximum linear distances close to 2 km. Starting from that assumption and because at that spatial level of analysis and the observed delivery patterns allowed it to be carried out using cargo bikes, with a replacement rate of 1:1, this paper tried to understand if the current focus and investment that is being promoted by public policies in this type of vehicles can actually promote the public good interests and private stakeholders' efficiency and in what conditions can it be implemented.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 64%

“…Gruber [18] studied the typical profile and potential to reject new vehicle technologies of individuals and decision makers concluding that factors such as electric range, purchase price and availability of information are essential to enable the adoption of this alternative. These factors are commonly used to justify the urban logistic operators' resistance to change to electric vehicles revealed in other studies [3,11]. Borgaray [20] modeled the quality perceived by users from public bicycle systems through the use of Probit models, concluding that safety and information have the greatest impact on public bike users' perceived quality.…”

Section: State Of the Artmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous research carried out by authors in this topic has addressed the impact of using small electric commercial vehicles [3,10,11]. These studies have defined that light electric vehicles (SEV) could replace up to 5% of the vans within the overall city area and its best geographical coverage was limited to a unit with 12 to 30 blocks, which corresponds to a maximum linear distance of about 2000 m. Authors also analyzed how varying replacement rates could assure the same delivery capacity within that limited area and concluded that small electric commercial vehicles were economically competitive (not considering purchasing and battery issues) with conventional vans with a replacement rate of 1:1.…”

Section: Study Domain and Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The use of light electric vehicles for urban logistics purposes, namely small electric four wheel vehicles, has already been approached by the authors in previous works [3,10,11]. Along that research, it was demonstrated that light commercial vehicles are appropriate as a niche of market complimentary to conventional vans.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evaluating the impacts of using cargo cycles on urban logistics: integrating traffic, environmental and operational boundaries

Melo

Baptista

2017

Eur. Transp. Res. Rev.

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115

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Introduction European Commission has promoted actions and policies with the aim of reducing the negative impacts on traffic and environment caused by city logistics. One increasingly popular measure is the use of cargo bikes in city logistics due to their improved energy efficiency, lower emissions and lower traffic disturbance. The paper assess the impacts of electric cargo bikes, from a public policy perspective and, simultaneously, taking into account variables that cover the urban logistics operators' interests. Under a public policy perspective, the considered variables evaluate mobility, environmental impacts and indirectly, the quality of life. In terms of private interests, the studied variables cover costs levels (operation and driving) and efficiency. This evaluation aims at clarifying if electric cargo bikes can indeed represent a sustainable mobility policy under specific boundaries, by leading to better environmental and social impacts and not hindering the operational efficiency of urban logistics activities. Methods For that purpose, the measurement of the traffic key performance indicators, as well as of Well-to-Wheel energy and CO 2 emission savings is performed allowing to quantify mobility, reliability and operational efficiency indicators. Several scenarios related with the introduction of electric cargo bikes replacing conventional vans were assessed and evaluated in order to compare the effects of different market shares in the mobility of the studied area located in Porto (Portugal). Acknowledging the short distance range of cargo bikes, the simulation is carried out and an estimation of the total transportation cost is performed, which includes transport and emission cost when the vehicle is driving, emission cost while idling and labor cost. Results The main conclusion is that cargo bikes can replace up to 10% of the conventional vans in areas with maximum linear distances of about 2 km, without changing the overall network efficiency. Additionally, urban logistics WTW CO 2 emission impacts can be reduced by up to 73%, which represents 746 kg of CO 2 avoided emissions. Furthermore, the introduction of electric cargo bikes in urban logistics activities has positive effects for all the vehicle categories and all the scenarios, reaching up to 25% of reductions in external costs. Conclusions As a result, cargo bikes implemented at the appropriate spatial scale within the city can be a sustainable solution for urban logistics, depending on a prior delimitation of the conditions and adequate implementation strategy, to guarantee that it actually leads to improvements in terms of mobility, environment, energy, running costs and externalities.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 64%

Section: State Of the Artmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Study Domain and Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Evaluating the impacts of using cargo cycles on urban logistics: integrating traffic, environmental and operational boundaries

Melo

Baptista

2017

Eur. Transp. Res. Rev.

Self Cite

115

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“…Consequently, vehicle efficiency is typically around 20% [50]. To achieve a more sustainable transport fleet, the European Commission and vehicle manufacturers have agreed to improve overall energy efficiency and to lower CO 2 emissions in new vehicle sales by 2021 [51]. As a result, alternative vehicle technologies, such as electric vehicles, are under development in attempt to reduce oil dependency, avoid tail pipe emissions, decrease carbon emissions and increase energy efficiency [52].…”

Section: Electric Vehiclesmentioning

confidence: 99%

What is the most energy efficient route for biogas utilization: Heat, electricity or transport?

et al. 2017

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IntroductionThe target set by the EU Renewable Energy Directive (2009/28/EC) [1] requires a 20% energy share from renewable sources by 2020. Thus, exploring alternative, environmentally benign and energy efficient systems has become the focus of governmental policies and industrial as well as academic research.Biogas is a renewable energy source that can be produced from the anaerobic digestion (AD) of biomass, such as sewage sludge, municipal solid waste, agricultural wastes, and energy crops. Biogas consists of around 50-60% methane (CH4), 40-50% carbon dioxide (CO2) and some minor constituents, such as hydrogen sulphide (H2S) and water. The use of biogas for energy production could displace fossil fuels, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and decrease dependence on imported energy [2].Upgraded biogas, termed bio-methane, is typically composed of ~97% CH 4 and ~3% CO 2 , and is converted to the same standard as natural gas through removal of CO 2 (upgrading) and other impurities (cleaning).Another route for upgrading biogas to bio-methane involves the chemical transformation of CO 2 to CH 4 by 2 the Sabatier reaction (equation 1); the hydrogen (H 2 ) in the reaction is usually obtained from water (H 2 O) electrolysis (equation 2). This combined pathway could have an important impact on the global carbon cycle [3]. There are various utilization pathways for both raw and upgraded forms of biogas [4]; commercial methods include electricity and heat generation via combined heat and power (CHP) units, electricity generation via fuel cells, and conversion to mechanical energy for transport via internal combustion engines (ICEs). Bio-methane can be injected into the gas grid, and/or converted to compressed renewable natural gas or liquefied renewable natural gas (referred to in this paper as CNG and LNG respectively) to serve as a transport fuel. Biogas can also be reformed to syngas (CO and H2) for liquid fuel production via Fischer Tropsch (FT) synthesis (see [5] for further details).As with any new energy system, countries are faced with ongoing challenges when designing the most optimum pathway to ensure sustainable development and sufficient energy supply [6]. In practice, many European countries have successfully integrated biogas into their energy sectors via different utilization routes. The annual energy production from biogas is around 42 TWh in Germany (the highest production in the EU), 9 TWh in UK, and 2.8 TWh in France; in each of these countries the biogas is mainly used for electricity generation [7]. Sweden produces around 1.7 TWh from biogas and 44% of biogas production is upgraded to bio-methane and used as vehicle fuel [8]. In Italy, biogas is mainly used for power generation while other pathways such as grid injection and CHP require further exploration [9]. However, although there are various options for biogas utilization, there is limited guidance in the literature on the selection of the optimum route. A number of papers focus specifically on biogas utilization as a vehicle fuel [9, 10] while oth...

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A Literature Review of Technological Trends in Urban Logistics: Concepts and Challenges

Machado

Pimentel

Sousa

et al. 2022

Human-Automation Interaction

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How battery electric vehicles can contribute to sustainable urban logistics: A real-world application in Lisbon, Portugal

Cited by 39 publications

References 19 publications

Evaluating the impacts of using cargo cycles on urban logistics: integrating traffic, environmental and operational boundaries

Evaluating the impacts of using cargo cycles on urban logistics: integrating traffic, environmental and operational boundaries

What is the most energy efficient route for biogas utilization: Heat, electricity or transport?

A Literature Review of Technological Trends in Urban Logistics: Concepts and Challenges

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