{"id":1149,"date":"2020-02-10T13:47:38","date_gmt":"2020-02-10T13:47:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/horizon.peachpuff-wolverine-566518.hostingersite.com\/?p=1149"},"modified":"2020-02-10T13:48:08","modified_gmt":"2020-02-10T13:48:08","slug":"electric-bikes-and-silent-trucks-to-green-goods-deliveries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/1149\/electric-bikes-and-silent-trucks-to-green-goods-deliveries\/","title":{"rendered":"Electric bikes and silent trucks to green goods deliveries"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Across Europe\u2019s cities, the demand for delivery services is increasing. But these deliveries affect urban life as\u00a0they add to traffic congestion, noise and pollution<\/a>\u00a0and many cities are now trying out alternative modes of transport that could help.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Known as \u2018last-mile\u2019 deliveries, this system involves the transport of goods and services from a depot in the outskirts to the city centre. They\u00a0are expected to grow by more than 16% annually from 2019 to 2027<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In Barcelona, Spain, a project called\u00a0GrowSmarter<\/a>\u00a0wanted to address the spike in small parcel deliveries resulting from an increase in online shopping. They piloted\u00a0a delivery service using electric bikes<\/a>\u00a0to businesses and consumers in the old town for two years.<\/p>\n

The old town is a densely-populated area with narrow streets, making it hard for delivery vans to access. Goods can only be delivered by standard vehicles in the morning and at night due to traffic regulations. But bikes aren\u2019t subject to delivery windows.<\/p>\n

\u2018This combination makes it ideal to do these deliveries with electric bikes,\u2019 said Gonzalo Cabezas, project manager at Barcelona City Council.<\/p>\n

Delivery<\/strong><\/p>\n

The team worked with a small e-bike delivery company called\u00a0Vanapedal<\/a>\u00a0which provided the service. The city council set up a distribution centre at the edge of the old town which Vanapedal could use free of charge. Vans from different shipping services would deposit packages for last-mile delivery by electric bike or tricycle. In return, Vanapedal had to provide business data to help gauge the project\u2019s success.<\/p>\n

Three tricycles out of the initial nine bikes used were equipped with sensors to take measurements too. \u2018We installed some equipment that include environmental sensors and there was a geolocation sensor to know exactly where the tricycles are,\u2019 said Cabezas.<\/p>\n

The trial ended in December and was deemed a success. During the two years, 200,000 packages were delivered\u00a0and the rate of successful deliveries was 92.7%. Since the service was provided to a pre-defined area, it allowed the delivery people to get to know their main clients and reschedule deliveries at a convenient time.<\/p>\n

\u2018Successful deliveries are higher than from standard providers,\u2019 said Cabezas. \u2018We are quite happy with this solution and it works financially from a business perspective.\u2019<\/p>\n

There was also a clear environmental impact.\u00a0Carbon dioxide emissions were reduced by 95.9% and there was a 21.7% reduction in noise<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Vanapedal is now continuing with the delivery service and there are also plans to replicate the scheme elsewhere in the city.<\/p>\n

But e-bikes aren\u2019t always the best solution. When large quantities of goods are being delivered, vans and trucks are still necessary.<\/p>\n

In the past decade in Stockholm, Sweden, an increase in delivery trucks due to major construction sites requiring supplies and more people shopping online has contributed to the growing problem of daytime traffic congestion. Spreading out deliveries over 24 hours could help.<\/p>\n

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\"The
The hybrid truck trialled in Stockholm, Sweden, runs on hydrotreated vegetable oil outside the city and electricity in the centre, and delivered to six restaurants on a single charge. Image credit – Paul Fenton<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Night<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018If you can get trucks delivering at night then there will be much less congestion during the daytime, which is better,\u2019 said Paul Fenton, the site manager of a project called\u00a0Civitas Eccentric<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Due to noise regulations, heavy lorries aren\u2019t allowed to operate at night.<\/p>\n

To overcome this issue, as well as that of pollution, Civitas Eccentric\u00a0is testing a\u00a0plug-in hybrid electric truck<\/a>. It has been granted an exemption to make night deliveries to a few McDonald\u2019s restaurants because it is silent when driving on electric power.<\/p>\n

The vehicle, provided by the truck manufacturer Scania, was used during an 8-month trial that ended in August 2019. When driving from a depot outside the city, it ran on biofuel – Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO). But when it reached the city centre, which is a low-emissions zone for heavy goods vehicles, it switched to electric power. The truck made deliveries to six restaurants within the city on a single charge.<\/p>\n

\u2018Deliveries got done quicker with less kilometres driven because the vehicle wasn\u2019t stuck in traffic,\u2019 said Fenton. \u2018Also, we were using a cleaner vehicle which is better for air pollution.\u2019<\/p>\n

Substantial data was collected to assess the effectiveness of the scheme using environmental sensors on the truck and noise monitors at specific locations on its route. Preliminary results are promising.\u00a0Nitrogen oxide emissions were slashed by almost 80%<\/a>\u00a0while particulate matter emissions, which includes smoke and soot particles, dropped by 28%.<\/p>\n

The test driver also reported that he preferred to work at night since it was less stressful. It was easier to find a parking space, for example, and the restaurant staff had time to receive deliveries since there were fewer customers at this time.<\/p>\n

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\u2018The more companies that try to make the transition, the more vehicles that will get produced.\u2019<\/p>\n

Paul Fenton, Civitas Eccentric<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

Noise<\/strong><\/p>\n

The team is keen to analyse the impact of the service on existing background noise. The restaurants are located in areas that are already quite noisy at night so they don\u2019t want to add to it. \u2018I think the data is showing that it\u2019s pretty good,\u2019 said Fenton. \u2018There isn\u2019t a major negative impact because of the deliveries.\u2019<\/p>\n

Fenton thinks there is potential to introduce greener delivery vehicles in other cities too. But alternative fuel vans and trucks are still only available in limited quantities which is an issue when scaling up services. \u2018It’s a little bit chicken and egg,\u2019 said Fenton. \u2018The more companies that try to make the transition, the more vehicles that will get produced.\u2019<\/p>\n

However, concerns about the safety of silent vehicles, which can\u2019t be heard by pedestrians and visually-impaired people, for example, has led to the\u00a0EU requiring all electric vehicles to have noise-emitting devices<\/a>, which make the sound of a traditional engine, by July 2021. The device must be used when starting up until they reach a speed of 20km\/h and when reversing. Above this speed, the sound of the tyres on the road and wind noise are audible so a warning system isn\u2019t needed.<\/p>\n

It is unclear how this will affect the potential for night deliveries. \u2018My hunch is that the noise generated by the sound (device) will probably not exceed the level of background noise in most urban contexts, and therefore not be a big problem,\u2019 said Fenton.<\/p>\n

In many cases, new infrastructure such as charging points will have to be put in place too. But trials like this one are helping to assess where drivers would need to plug in their vehicle. If a truckload can be delivered on a single charge, for example, then charging stations would be essential near terminals outside the city centre.<\/p>\n

\u2018There is a lot of learning involved,\u2019 said Fenton. \u2018You have to test and try to find ways to overcome the barriers.\u2019<\/p>\n

The research in this article was funded by the EU. If you liked this article, please consider sharing it on social media. <\/em><\/p>\n

Originally published by Horizon <\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Across Europe\u2019s cities, the demand for delivery services is increasing. But these deliveries affect urban life as\u00a0they add to traffic congestion, noise and pollution\u00a0and many cities are now trying out alternative modes of transport that could help. Known as \u2018last-mile\u2019 deliveries, this system involves the transport of goods and services from a depot in the … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":318,"featured_media":1150,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-earth-energy-environment"],"yoast_head":"\nElectric bikes and silent trucks to green goods deliveries - Horizon Magazine Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/1149\/electric-bikes-and-silent-trucks-to-green-goods-deliveries\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Electric bikes and silent trucks to green goods deliveries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Across Europe\u2019s cities, the demand for delivery services is increasing. 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