![]() In California, drone delivery of a small package would result in about 0.42 kg of greenhouse gas emissions. On average in the U.S., truck delivery of a package results in about 1 kg of greenhouse gas emissions. Small drone delivery can save emissionsĬombining all the factors, we found that package delivery with small drones can be better for the environment than delivery with trucks. We included this extra energy use in our estimates. To cover the greater Bay Area would require dozens of new warehouses, each needing electricity and potentially natural gas to operate, just like other warehouses. We calculated that serving the city of San Francisco would require about four urban warehouses with drone bases. Or, as Amazon is testing, smaller local warehouses could serve key delivery destinations within the drones’ range. Drones could transport items in multiple legs, almost like the Pony Express or stagecoaches did with horses in the early days of the American West. In addition, to serve drones with limited range, companies would have to change how their delivery systems use energy. To show the range of energy needs and environmental effects, we paid particular attention to California, which has a low-carbon grid, and Missouri, which is in a carbon-intensive region. In general, electric power generation in the U.S. Some areas burn more coal and natural gas to generate power, while others have fewer fossil fuels and rely more on nuclear, hydropower, wind and solar power. ![]() Burning a gallon of diesel fuel emits about 10 kg of carbon dioxide, but emissions from electricity vary by region, depending on how it’s generated. ![]() Then we calculated the amount of greenhouse gases emitted. And while battery manufacturing is improving, making batteries still generates carbon dioxide. The energy needed to turn crude oil into diesel fuel can add another 20 percent or more of greenhouse gases to the amount generated when the fuel is burned. We also included the environmental effects of making these fuels and of making electric vehicle batteries. But a delivery truck or van can carry many packages at once, so the energy needs and environmental effects need to be allocated per package.ĭifferent delivery vehicles can run on diesel, natural gas, electricity or gasoline, each with various energy and emissions characteristics. We considered a range of battery technologies and fuels, but focused on lithium-based batteries for our base case, because that’s what powers most current electric drones.Įven though it’s fighting gravity to stay aloft, an electric drone uses much less energy per mile than a heavy steel delivery truck burning diesel fuel. The amount of energy a drone uses depends on how heavy the drone itself is, its batteries and whatever packages it’s carrying – as well as other factors, including how fast it’s moving and wind conditions.įor the purposes of making an overall estimate, we settled on a quadcopter drone capable of delivering a 1.1 pound (0.5 kg) package and an octocopter drone capable of delivering a 17.6 pound (8 kg) package, each with a range of about 2.5 miles (4 km). Finding a drone’s energy useįirst, our team – led from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and including researchers from Carnegie Mellon University, SRI International and the University of Colorado–Boulder – measured the energy use of quadcopter and octocopter-style drones carrying different payloads. We modeled how much energy drone delivery would use, and how it would be different from the ways packages are delivered now. Reducing the need for trucking by delivering some packages with electric drones could save fuel, and potentially carbon emissions. About one-quarter of transportation emissions, the equivalent of 415 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, comes from medium- and heavy-duty trucks, the kinds of vehicles that deliver freight to warehouses, businesses and consumers’ homes. But transportation is still largely powered by fuels made from oil and is now the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. electricity sector has been rapidly transitioning to generating power with fewer greenhouse gas emissions. But in other cases, using trucks – especially electric-powered ones – would be more efficient and cleaner. We found that in some cases using electric-powered drones rather than diesel-powered trucks or vans could reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. uses energy, and the resulting environmental effects. Our new research has measured how that shift would change how the U.S. Companies including Amazon, UPS, Google and DHL are already exploring ways to deliver packages with drones instead of trucks. Most of them belong to people flying them for fun, but a growing number are used commercially. There are more than 1 million drones registered in the U.S.
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