Canadians aim for greener shipping

Janet Pelley

Nearly everyone enjoys seeing the delivery van drop off their online order at the doorstep. But all the trucks bringing goods into cities also deliver a substantial load of CO₂ and toxic exhaust. Alarmed by rapid growth in delivery traffic, Canada's largest cities are taking steps to decarbonize urban freight, according to a new report from the Calgary‐based Pembina Institute (https://bit.ly/2UxrTTP).

Transportation – the movement of people and goods – accounts for nearly one‐quarter of global CO₂ emissions, and is expected to grow faster than any other sector. In Canada, freight makes up almost half of transportation emissions and by 2030 will exceed passenger vehicle emissions. Experts blame the growth in freight on our consumer society, changes in manufacturing, and surging demand for online commerce. Shipping packages and goods takes a toll on cities where the “last mile” of delivery involves multiple trucks fanning out from a distribution center to final destinations, often getting stuck in traffic of their own making and circling the block until parking spots open up. The inefficiencies of the “last mile” cost businesses 28% of total logistics expenses, says Carolyn Kim, an author of the report and Ontario regional director with Pembina (Toronto, Canada). Yet solutions are underway in Canada with a shift to low‐carbon vehicles and fundamental changes to delivery operations to make them more efficient, she explains.

Metropolitan Vancouver's regional goods movement strategy calls for low‐ and zero‐emission vehicles, a policy that is getting a boost from companies such as Amazon, which has ordered 100,000 electric delivery vehicles, and UPS, which signed a deal to buy 10,000 electric vans between now and 2024. A Toronto suburb just completed a pilot project for off‐peak deliveries, allowing trucks to avoid jams by dropping off goods from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. The project cut both travel times and pollutant emissions by 15%. Likewise, the city of Montréal has converted a former bus station into a staging area where delivery trucks unload and transfer packages onto cargo bikes. “In cities across Canada, companies have set up micro‐hubs, a small space in residential or office buildings where you can pick up your packages on the way home from work”, Kim continues.

“Much of the growth in urban freight is driven by online retailers offering same‐day delivery”, says Alan McKinnon, a specialist in logistics at Kühne Logistics University (Hamburg, Germany). With freight set to triple by 2050, decarbonizing the sector will also depend on reducing the amount of stuff we have to move, he concludes.

Consolidating deliveries onto bikes could cut the carbon footprint of shipping.

Todd‐Fahrner; CC BY‐SA 2.0

中文翻译：

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派遣

加拿大人致力于绿色运输

珍妮特·佩莱（Janet Pelley）

几乎每个人都喜欢在门口看到送货车从网上下订单。但是，所有将货物运入城市的卡车也运送了大量的CO ₂和有毒废气。总部位于卡尔加里的彭比纳学院（Pembina Institute）的一份最新报告（https://bit.ly/2UxrTTP）表示，由于送货流量的迅速增长，加拿大最大的城市正在采取措施使城市货运脱碳。

运输（人员和货物的流动）占全球CO _2的近四分之一排放量，预计增长速度将超过其他任何部门。在加拿大，货运几乎占运输排放的一半，到2030年将超过乘用车的排放。专家们将货运的增长归咎于我们的消费者社会，制造业的变化以及对在线商务的需求激增。在“最后一英里”的交付涉及到多辆卡车从配送中心散开到最终目的地的城市，运输包裹和货物造成了损失，这些卡车经常卡在自己制造的交通中并盘旋街区直到停车位开放。报告的作者，彭贝纳（Penbina）（加拿大多伦多）安大略省地区总监卡罗琳·金（Carolyn Kim）说，“最后一公里”的低效率使企业损失了总物流费用的28％。

温哥华大都会的区域货物运输策略要求使用低排放和零排放车辆，这一政策得到了亚马逊等公司的推动，亚马逊已订购了100,000辆电动货车，UPS签署了一项购买10,000辆电动货车的协议现在和2024年。多伦多郊区刚刚完成了非高峰期交付的试点项目，使卡车能够从晚上7点到早上7点放下货物来避免卡纸。该项目将出行时间和污染物排放减少了15％。同样，蒙特利尔市将以前的公交车站改建成了集结地，送货卡车在那里将包裹卸货并将其转移到货运自行车上。“在加拿大各地的城市中，公司都建立了微型集线器，这是在住宅或办公楼中的一个小空间，您可以在下班回家的路上拿起包裹”，Kim继续说道。

“城市货运的大部分增长是由提供当天交货的在线零售商推动的”，德国库恩物流大学（KühneLogistics University）物流专家艾伦·麦金农（Alan McKinnon）说。他总结说，由于到2050年货运量将增长两倍，该行业的脱碳也将取决于减少我们必须运输的东西的数量。

将交付整合到自行车上可以减少运输的碳足迹。

托德·法纳 CC BY‐SA 2.0