How On-Demand Delivery Services affects Energy and Environment

A shift from dining in to at-home consumption can produce additional food packaging waste [1]. On-demand meal delivery may also affect travel activity, potentially increasing emissions. A study of delivery data in London, United Kingdom found that meal delivery by vehicle is “highly energy inefficient, producing 11 times more GHG [greenhouse gas emissions] per meal delivered by vehicle than by bicycle” [2]. However, this study did not identify if any travel activity was displaced by the substitution of meal delivery services; future research could explore if customers order from locations further away or substitute meal delivery for home cooking, activities that would increase energy consumption and resultant emissions. Policies to support bicycle use for delivery services can mitigate these increases [3], [4].

For robotic delivery services, the literature shows that the energy consumption and emissions of robotic delivery services do not necessarily outperform traditional ones, and are related to delivery distance, electrification, and operation [1], [5], [6].

References

  1. C. Li, M. Mirosa, and P. Bremer, “Review of Online Food Delivery Platforms and their Impacts on Sustainability,” Sustainability, vol. 12, no. 14, Art. no. 14, Jan. 2020, doi: 10.3390/su12145528.

  2. J. Allen et al., “Understanding the transport and CO2 impacts of on-demand meal deliveries: A London case study,” Cities, vol. 108, p. 102973, Jan. 2021, doi: 10.1016/j.cities.2020.102973.

  3. F. Fontes and V. Andrade, “Bicycle Logistics as a Sustainability Strategy: Lessons from Brazil and Germany,” Sustainability, vol. 14, no. 19, Art. no. 19, Jan. 2022, doi: 10.3390/su141912613.

  4. S. Wicaksono, X. Lin, and L. A. Tavasszy, “Market potential of bicycle crowdshipping: A two-sided acceptance analysis,” Res. Transp. Bus. Manag., vol. 45, p. 100660, Dec. 2022, doi: 10.1016/j.rtbm.2021.100660.

  5. A. Goodchild and J. Toy, “Delivery by drone: An evaluation of unmanned aerial vehicle technology in reducing CO2 emissions in the delivery service industry,” Transp. Res. Part Transp. Environ., vol. 61, pp. 58–67, Jun. 2018, doi: 10.1016/j.trd.2017.02.017.

  6. M. D. Simoni, E. Kutanoglu, and C. G. Claudel, “Optimization and analysis of a robot-assisted last mile delivery system,” Transp. Res. Part E Logist. Transp. Rev., vol. 142, p. 102049, Oct. 2020, doi: 10.1016/j.tre.2020.102049.

Related Literature Reviews

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Note: Mobility COE research partners conducted this literature review in Spring of 2024 based on research available at the time. Unless otherwise noted, this content has not been updated to reflect newer research.