Professor Alan McKinnon, Professor of Logistics, Kuehne Logistics University, Hamburg, joins me to discuss five strategies to decarbonise urban logistics:

Rationalisation - Route optimisation

Realistic solutions compared to ambitious longer-term options

Switching to lower carbon transport modes

Rail

Cargo cycles

Filling delivery vehicles better and reducing distance travelled

Micro-hubs and consolidation centres

Can intra-urban collaboration be replicated at an urban scale?

Parcel lockers

Physical internet - open systems and remodularisation of transport

Improving energy efficiency of vehicles

Impact of regulation

Vehicles are becoming more efficient

Driver training is one of the best ways to improve vehicle energy efficiency

Delivering at different times of the day, improving fuel efficiency of vehicles

Why we need to worry about energy efficiency even as we move to electric delivery vehicles

Switching to alternative low carbon energy

Batteries will be central to a low carbon future - more so than solutions such as hydrogen

Factors constraining conversion of fleets to electric power

Total cost of ownership – and how many miles do these EVs have to drive to make them better than ICE vehicles?

Which vehicles should be prioritised for conversion from ICE to EVs?

Carbon penalty associated with fast delivery and free returns

Using price mechanisms to encourage sustainable practices