Evaluating the sustainability of lightweight drones for delivery: towards a suitable methodology for assessment

Functional Composite Materials

卷:4

Research

Tomás Flanagan¹  Simon O’Reilly²  Stephen Killian²  William Finnegan³  Juliana Steinbach³  Sinéad Mitchell⁴  Pouyan Ghabezi⁴  Noel Harrison⁴ 

[1] Engineering Department ÉireComposites Teo, Inverin, Co Galway, Ireland;

[2] Manna Drone Delivery Ltd, NovaUCD, UCD, Belfield Innovation Park, Dublin, Ireland;

[3] University of Galway; J.E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics; School of Engineering, Ryan Institute, University Road, Galway, Ireland;

[4] University of Galway; J.E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics; School of Engineering, Ryan Institute, University Road, Galway, Ireland;I-Form, the SFI Research Centre for Advanced Manufacturing, UCD, Dublin, Ireland;

关键词: Drone delivery;    LCA;    Sustainability;    Composite;    Manufacturing;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s42252-023-00040-4

 received in 2022-12-10, accepted in 2023-03-14,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

Drone technology is widely available and is rapidly becoming a crucial instrument in the functions of businesses and government agencies worldwide. The demand for delivery services is accelerating particularly since the Covid-19 pandemic. Both companies and customers want these services to be efficient, timely, safe, and sustainable, but these are major challenges. Last-mile delivery by lightweight short-range drones has the potential to address these challenges. However, there is a lack of consistency and transparency in assessing and reporting the sustainability of last-mile delivery services and drones. This paper critically reviews published papers on Life Cycle Assessments of drones to date. The study reveals a lack of comprehensive studies, and a need to examine composite and battery manufacturing developments and provides key considerations for future study development.Graphical Abstract

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2023

【 图 表 】

Fig. 3

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