Internal report cluster 1: Urban freight innovations and solutions for sustainable deliveries (1/4)

Technical report about sustainable urban freight solutions, part 1 of

Road freight transport to, from, and within London

This paper examines the development of road freight transport operations to, from, and within London, from medieval times to the present. Until the twentieth century, road transport was the dominant mode within London but was less important for goods moved between the rest of the country and the capital. However, since the mid-twentieth century, road transport has also dominated goods movements to and from London, mainly through technological developments in goods vehicle speed and size. Since the introduction of a Mayor of London in 2000, there has been much interest in the efficiency and sustainability of road freight transport measures at a London level. Analysis suggests that present day journeys from London generate approximately four times fewer vehicle miles per tonne lifted than in the 1830s and nine times fewer than in the 1690s

Logistics and the waste sector: a London case study

London has traditionally exported most of its waste to former mineral workings in surrounding counties for landfill. Many of these sites are being filled and opportunities for new sites are limited. Virtually all waste reprocessing and recycling facilities, with the exception of textile sorting and some facilities for glass and organic waste composting, are outside London. The Mayor of London's Vision for Waste in London is that by 2020, municipal waste should not compromise London’s future as a sustainable city. This will involve managing waste better, so that its impact on the local and global environment and on London communities, economy and health is minimised. The majority of waste and recyclable materials in London are currently collected and transported for recovery, disposal or reprocessing by road in large vehicles. Environmental costs include, adding to congestion, noise, energy usage, air pollution, and accidents. The Mayor is keen to increase recycling and reuse of waste materials in London, and to ensure that as more of London's waste is diverted away from landfill sites to recycling facilities. Several projects and initiatives have been established and these are reviewed in the paper

Redesign of a High-Pressure, Single-Sinker Magnetic Suspension Densimeter to Measure Highly Accurate Densities for Fluids: Applications to Helium, Argon, and Helium + Methane Mixtures

The petrochemical industry requires highly accurate equations of state (EoS) to calculate thermodynamic properties such as densities and calorific properties. However, the accuracy of an EoS depends upon the accuracy of the data used to construct it. Thus, a need exists for high accuracy p-p-T measurements. Multiple apparatus can provide high accuracy p-p-T measurements, but they do not operate over broad ranges of pressure and temperature. One apparatus that can operate over a broad range is a single sinker magnetic suspension densimeter (MSD). This work presents the redesign of the TAMU MSD. This apparatus is a unique MSD because its pressure measurement range extends to 200 MPa. A system redesign has enabled the apparatus to achieve a temperature range of 300 to 500 K. The redesign entailed creating a new electrical heating system, heating shields, vacuum insulation, and new frame. Improvements for the measurement processes of the system include a new measurement sequence that reduces measurement time by approximately half. After recommissioning the MSD, nitrogen measurements validated the system performance. After verifying system accuracy, measurements included two pure fluids, helium and argon, from 300 to 450 K up to 200 MPa. Additional measurements included three binary mixtures of methane + helium covering the same property ranges. Finally, this work proposes a new approach to creating mixing rules for binary mixtures of “simple” molecules based upon a quadratic compositional dependence of the residual Helmholtz energy. This approach describes the contributions from interactions between unlike molecules with an interaction Helmholtz energy. A rational polynomial in density with coefficients having both temperature and compositional dependence describes these interactions within the accuracy of experimental measurements. This form is less complex than other mixture models that include exponential terms in density, thus the approach is more attractive for process modeling. Mixtures containing methane, ethane, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, argon, hydrogen, krypton and helium provide tests for the mixing rule

Low emission zones: the likely effects on the freight transport sector

London’s air quality has improved over recent decades, but is still the worst in the UK. Road transport emissions play an important part in this pollution. A low emission zone (LEZ) would help to accelerate the introduction of cleaner vehicles, and reduce the numbers of older, more polluting vehicles operating in London. The survey work carried out indicates that there is support among goods vehicle operators for an LEZ in London, depending on the precise scheme definition. Operators would generally try to comply with LEZ regulations, with most companies either using technical approaches to ensure that their London vehicle fleet complied with the required emission standard or by redeploying vehicles with the appropriate emission standard from other locations

Business improvement districts in urban freight sustainability initiatives: a case study approach

The paper extends research into the importance of freight transport partnerships by considering the role of Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) in supporting sustainable urban freight initiatives. A review of the freight transport-related work that has been carried out in BIDs in central London is included. A detailed case study of a freight project in the Baker Street Quarter (BSQ) Partnership provides insight into work carried out in the multi-tenanted office and hotel sectors. The findings of this research in terms of freight transport and logistics activity patterns at the businesses studied together with the potential freight transport solutions identified are discussed

Before-after assessment of a logistics trial with clean urban freight vehicles: a case study in London

he paper addresses the potential role that can be played by clean vehicles especially cycles in conjunction with urban consolidation centres (UCCs) in reducing freight traffic and its environmental impacts in towns and cities. A trial is presented in which a major stationery and office supplies company making deliveries to customers in central London replaced their diesel vans with electrically-assisted tricycles and electric vans operating from a urban micro-consolidation centre located in the delivery area. The results show that the total distance travelled and the CO2e emissions per parcel delivered fell by 14% and 55% respectively as a result of this delivery system. The trial proved successful from the company's perspective in transport, environmental and financial terms and it has therefore decided to officially launch and continue the operation

Sustainable freight: impacts of the London congestion charge and low emissions zone

This paper assesses whether two sustainability policies currently in effect in London, a congestion charge zone and a low emission zone, have affected freight operations and reduced vehicle kilometers travelled. It investigates responses by freight operators, including re-timing, re-routing, or reducing the number of trips, or replacing vehicles. Freight traffic trends from 1994 to 2012 were identified using road traffic estimates, cordon counts, and vehicle speed data and supplemented by interviews with freight industry experts and operators. Findings indicate that freight traffic increased throughout London during this timeframe, but declined in the central boroughs partly within the congestion charge zone. The congestion charge may have time-shifted some light goods trips, but most freight trips face a variety of constraints on operators’ delivery window. No evidence was found of re-routing of freight traffic or avoidance traffic around the charged zone. The low emission zone spurred higher levels of operational change than the congestion charge zone, and it was effective at spurring freight vehicle replacement. The paper also discusses freight operators’ perceptions of these policies and how they could be improved

A review of urban consolidation centres in the supply chain based on a case study approach

The paper considers how urban consolidation centres (UCCs) can be used in the supply chain to reduce goods vehicle traffic and its associated environmental impacts, while also helping to make supply chains more responsive and efficient and thereby generate commercial benefits. The role of UCCs is presented and the various types discussed. The potential supply chain impacts of UCCs are considered. Case studies of six UCC schemes and trials are included, with their objectives, operational characteristics and impacts compared. The critical success factors associated with UCCs are identified