scholarly journals Reviewing Truck Logistics: Solutions for Achieving Low Emission Road Freight Transport

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (17) ◽  
pp. 6714 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tommi Inkinen ◽  
Esa Hämäläinen

Low emission logistics have become an expected and desired goal in all fields of transportation, particularly in the European Union. Heavy-duty trucks (HDTs) are significant producers of emissions and pollution in inland transports. Their role is significant, as in multimodal transport chains truck transportation is, in most cases, the only viable solution to connect hinterlands with ports. Diesel engines are the main power source of trucks and their emission efficiency is the key challenge in environmentally sound freight transportation. This review paper addresses the academic literature focusing on truck emissions. The paper relies on the preliminary hypothesis that simple single solutions are nonexistent and that there will be a collection of suggestions and solutions for improving the emission efficiency in trucks. The paper focuses on the technical properties, emission types, and fuel solutions used in freight logistics. Truck manufacturing, maintenance, and other indirect emissions like construction of road infrastructure have been excluded from this review.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 4009
Author(s):  
Marcin Połom ◽  
Paweł Wiśniewski

Public transport has undergone major changes in recent years. In particular, they relate to the issue of environmental impact. Due to the significant emission of pollutants from the economy, in particular from the transport segment, member states of the European Union have taken measures to limit its scope. Only low-emission and zero-emission vehicles are to be used in transport, and mainly those that are powered by electricity in public transport. The development of battery technologies has led to a revolution in the range and operational capabilities of electric buses in the last decade. They have become a seemingly easy alternative to traditional electric vehicles in public transport—trams and trolleybuses. This article presents the possibilities and limitations of the development of public transport in Poland based on electric buses. An attempt was made to review the literature and compare the possibility of the functioning of buses, trams and trolleybuses in the Polish socio-economic, environmental and technological conditions. The article was based on a literature query, an analysis of unpublished materials, and a qualitative analysis of national programs endorsing the idea of electromobility as well as an online survey on the perception of electric public transport. The main goal of the article was to identify and evaluate the possibilities of developing public transport in Poland with the use of electric buses. The main results of the work include the demonstration that the optics of the national and regional authorities in Poland are focused mainly on electric buses without a thorough analysis of the legitimacy of their operation, especially in small towns. The incentive in the form of subsidizing the purchase of an electric bus is sufficient for them, and the future effects of using electric buses are not investigated.


2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julien Chevallier

Since the creation of the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) in 2005, a burgeoning academic literature has emerged to identify the factors that shape the price of carbon, where one European Union Allowance is equal to one ton of CO2-equivalent emitted in the atmosphere. Thus, there is a need for an updated and thorough literature review on the state-of-the-art on topic that this paper aims to fulfill. Namely, the author considers the main econometric studies that have been recently published in the academic literature, which feature the influence of the following determinants to explain the variation of the price of carbon: institutional decisions; energy prices and weather events; macroeconomic and financial market shocks. The paper concludes with some directions for future research in this area.


Author(s):  
Hermes de Andrade Júnior

This chapter promotes a selection of works collected that seek to analyze the need and the evolution of reverse logistics into the context of the National Policy on Solid Waste in Brazil. Nineteen years of intensive discussion have been held until the legal framework for the implementation of Agenda 21 of 1992 on the environmentally sound management of solid waste could be announced. The principle of shared responsibility for the product lifecycle, which reaches manufacturers, importers, distributors and traders, consumers, and holders of public solid waste management services, is the central theme of the law and undoubtedly innovates on the issue, placing Brazil alongside countries such as those of the European Union and Japan. However, a serious problem that distances them is to achieve large population densities with the benefit of municipalization of the process of control of urban waste. The rate of effective management of solid wastes is relatively low at the municipal level compared to the countries mentioned.


Mathematics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 646
Author(s):  
Álvaro Labella ◽  
Juan Carlos Rodríguez-Cohard ◽  
José Domingo Sánchez-Martínez ◽  
Luis Martínez

Nowadays, sustainability is an omnipresent concept in our society, which encompasses several challenges related to poverty, inequality, climate change and so on. The United Nations adopted the Agenda 2030, a plan of action formed of universal Sustainable Developments Goals (SDGs) and targets, which countries have to face in order to shift the world toward a sustainable future. One of the most relevant SDGs since the onset of the financial crisis in 2007 has been the so-called reduced inequalities, which consists of dealing with the inequality of opportunities and wealth between and within countries. However, reducing inequalities depends on many heterogeneous aspects, making it difficult to make a proper analysis that evaluates the European Union (EU) countries performance of this goal. In this study, we introduce a novel approach to evaluate the inequalities in EU countries based on a sorting a multi-criteria decision-making method called AHPSort II. This approach allows to obtain a classification of the EU countries according to their achievements in reducing inequalities to subsequently carry out a deep performance analysis with the aim of drawing conclusions as to the evolution of inequality in them along the years. The results are consistent with the main international organizations’ reports and academic literature, as shown in the Discussion Section.


Author(s):  
Edyta Gajos ◽  
Sylwia Małażewska ◽  
Konrad Prandecki

The aim of the study was to compare the total greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union countries and their emission efficiency. Emission efficiency was calculated as the ratio of emission volume and value to gross value added generated by the economy of a given country (size of the economy). The necessary statistical data was obtained from Eurostat. It was found that in 2015 most of greenhouse gases were emitted by: Germany, United Kingdom, Poland, France and Italy. At the same time, France and the United Kingdom were characterized by one of the best emission efficiency in the European Union, Germany and Italy obtained average results, while Poland was in the group of countries with the lowest emission efficiency. Therefore, it can be concluded, that the volume of emissions is significantly affected by the size of the economy. Some large emitters have economies based on relatively “clean” technologies and thus their potential to further reduction is not very high. The reverse is true for some low-emission countries, such as Estonia and Bulgaria. This indicates the need for a more comprehensive look at the problem of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.


2020 ◽  
pp. 333-341
Author(s):  
Tamás Zoltán Wágner

Nowadays, many multinationals use tax avoidance strategies in order to minimise their tax liability. They often cooperate with governments providing them preferential treatment. These low-tax jurisdictions called tax havens pose a threat for world economy because they result in huge budgetary loss for countries. Even the European Union has its own tax havens which contribute to the loss of 250 billion euros annually. It is more than 2% of the Union’s GNP. Despite the apparent negative evidences, several member states’ tax system still contains favourable provisions for multinationals. Although, almost everybody would mention the Benelux states first, but many multinationals utilize the loopholes of the Irish tax system. In this regard, it is enough to refer to the Apple case where the European Commission ordered the recuperation of 13 billion euros from the company due to illegal state aid. Hence, we conducted a research based on academic literature and case-law. After a short introduction and dealing with the European Commission’s response to tax avoidance, we analyse the Irish tax system. The main goal was to demonstrate that Ireland – despite the denial of the respective authorities – was a tax haven. Our study proves that multinationals could use almost freely several tax optimisation strategies (e.g. Double Irish and Dutch Sandwich) up to now. Due to strong criticism and scandals the government had to amend the former tax regime, but it does not mean that preferential treatment is abolished. Ireland still should be considered a tax haven.


2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-170
Author(s):  
Paul Lucian

Abstract The time span between 2014 and 2020 constitutes a new, multi-annual financial framework. During this time, by negotiating with the European Union, Romania received financing through 5 major types of funds which were part of the European Structural Investments Funds (ESIF) and which were structured in six major Operational Programs, the most consistent of which is POIM - The Major Infrastructure Operational Program (MIOP). Within this financial framework, Romania needs to improve its absorption of funds based on the experience gained in the previous framework, with regards to issues like bureaucracy, corruption, lack of qualified personnel for the implementation of projects, the transition from the quantitative side of projects to the qualitative one, and the lack of a strategic vision. The country shouldn’t continue with justifications of powerlessness that are divided between political and economic factors. Romania needs a viable solution in terms of absorption, because otherwise economic and social development projects cannot be carried out in the near future. Romania's problem is that, after 2020, it has to absorb an amount of around 80 billion euros in European Funds coming from both the Recovery and Resilience Program and the 2021-2027 allocation.


Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (21) ◽  
pp. 5635
Author(s):  
Krzysztof Zamasz ◽  
Radosław Kapłan ◽  
Przemysław Kaszyński ◽  
Piotr W. Saługa

The increasing demand for energy on a global scale, as well as the social pressure related to counteracting the effects of climate change, has created favourable conditions for the transformation of energy sectors towards the possession of low-emission generation sources. This situation, however, requires investment actions in order to modernise the existing power and CHP (Combined Heat and Power) plants and construct new units. These issues, together with the climate and energy policy pursued by the European Union, are the main reasons for the emergence of various governmental mechanisms supporting the replacement of old coal power units with highly efficient cogeneration units based on gas turbines and other units. The support may take different forms. This article discusses two examples of mechanisms available on the Polish market, i.e., (i) the capacity market and (ii) promoting electricity from high-efficiency cogeneration in the form of individual cogeneration premium. The purpose and novelty of the analysis was to identify the pros and cons and the key parameters which determine the advantage of a given mechanism. Both these mechanisms have been characterised and then compared via the example of a planned cogeneration gas unit (an open cycle gas turbine—OCGT). This assessment was made using discount methods based on the FCFF (free cashflow to company) approach. The analysis did not bring forward an unequivocal answer as to the absolute advantage of any of the solutions, but it was able to point out significant problems related to their practical use.


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