Researchers from the Warsaw University of Technology, together with foreign partners, want to create a platform that minimises the energy consumption needed to deliver goods and services to city residents. The project ‘E-Laas: Energy-optimised city logistics as a service’ received funding in a competition organised by the JPI Urban network together with the Chinese NSFC agency. 

The research consortium consists of Chalmers University of Technology (Sweden) – project coordinator from Europe, Shanghai University – project coordinator from China, Tsinghua University (China) and Warsaw University of Technology. The project will start in May 2023 and will last 36 months.

“We are planning to develop models of a logistics system for different modes of cargo distribution, including the use of electric vehicles, cargo bikes or drones. In the models, the focus will be on energy consumption and emissions, as well as linking infrastructure and Internet of Things solutions to means of transport and users”, explains Prof Emilian Szczepański from the Faculty of Transport at the Warsaw University of Technology, head of the Polish E-Laas project team.

The main focus of the international team’s efforts is a platform that will cover all stages of distribution – from consolidation centres, where smaller shipments are combined and prepared for joint transport, to the delivery of the ‘parcel’ to customers.

For municipalities, it will be a tool to create energy policies in the implementation of logistics processes (e.g. the location of car parks and vehicle chargers). For suppliers or transport operators, it will allow them to identify optimal delivery routes in terms of energy consumption and costs. End customers, on the other hand, will have information about the environmental costs of their order. This information will encourage the use of operators using solutions with the least negative impact on the environment.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński