![]() ![]() Say you want size 8.5 wide blue Nikes to your home in Missouri, but they’re only in stock at a Nike warehouse in Oregon. In general, there’s a correlation between faster deliveries and greater environmental damage. “But applying a blanket proclamation of environmentalism overlooks many of the more complex parameters that factor into delivery strategy.” “At first blush, research shows that small drones are more environmentally friendly than their ground-delivery alternatives,” said Bill Denbigh, a self-professed logistics nerd who currently works as the director of product marketing logistics at supply chain company TECSYS. This saves tremendously on fuel usage and reduces emissions.”īut some experts say it’s that “need an item now” mentality that is actually hurting the environment - and drones play a big role in that.Įnvironmental problems with ultra-fast drone delivery “With a service like Prime Air, we’ll be able to order from home and stay home. “Today, most of us run to the store because we need an item now,” the blog post stated. “When it comes to emissions and energy efficiency, an electric drone, charged using sustainable means, traveling to drop off a package is a vast improvement over a car on the road,” according to a 2019 Amazon blog post. While cars and trucks typically use gasoline or diesel fuel, most drones are battery-powered (an Amazon spokesperson said Prime Air drone batteries will be charged via solar power). Goodchild said driverless trucks could also compare just as favorably. Of course, when driverless trucks come onto the scene, drones could lose their edge. ![]() ![]() “This makes them able to be smaller and made of more lightweight materials,” she said. And with no driver, drones also don’t need to transport equipment to keep that driver safe, like airbags or seat belts. ![]() “The main design challenge for drones has been to reduce weight and develop battery technology such that a meaningful distance can be flown,” Goodchild said.Īmong the most apparent weight reductions in drones vs. But researchers also found that drones emitted more carbon dioxide than trucks when carrying heavier packages over longer distances.Įliminating one big piece of unnecessary cargo: humans In use cases where lightweight items are delivered over short distances (say, important documents from one building to another across a river, or blood samples from a doctor’s office to a nearby lab), there’s a case to be made that drone delivery is more efficient. “Drones are remarkably energy efficient machines, particularly when compared to the current fleet of over-the-road trucks,” said Anne Goodchild, a professor at the University of Washington focusing on supply chain and logistics. Even though drones traveled more miles than an equivalent truck route (because drones can carry only one package at a time) the study found that drones emit less carbon dioxide than trucks if transporting light packages with fewer stops. Researchers from the University of Washington conducted a study in 2017 comparing carbon dioxide emissions in drone and truck deliveries. When drone delivery is good for the environmentīy a number of measures, drones can be more energy efficient than trucks.Ĭarrying lightweight objects over short distances Drones can bypass traffic-clogged roads (they don’t even need roads, period).Īmazon Prime Air is no exception, envisioning a future delivery system that gets packages to customers in 30 minutes or less.īut some experts fear that such an emphasis on speed comes at an environmental cost. Speed can mean the difference in receiving an AED in time to treat cardiac arrest, or an EpiPen in time to save someone with a nut allergy who accidentally ate Nutella. Most drone delivery companies promise speed. The Seattle-based company (AMZN) in August received a Part 135 air carrier certificate, a rare approval bestowed upon only two others: Wing (the drone-focused, sister company of Google) and UPS Flight Forward, the drone subsidiary of the multinational package delivery giant (UPS). Octo- Amazon Prime Air scored a big win this summer after receiving broad approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to operate delivery drones. ![]()
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