EMISSION-FREE LOGISTICS IN REMOTE RURAL AREAS

Abstract

Purpose: The EU Green Deal aims at making the continent climate-neutral by 2050. This heavily impacts the logistics sector, which currently predominantly relies on carbon-emitting ground, sea and air transports. While there are economic incentives to implement innovative emission-free alternatives in urban regions, rural areas can barely even hope for economical transportation services and thus are often supplied by traditional, emission-intense, means of transport. In particular, Remote Rural Areas (RRAs) provide a challenge to this goal: A combination of factors hinders the application of modern sustainable transport solutions in this context. The purpose of this paper is to define and analyse emission-free transportation in RRAs, providing an overview of current approaches to the issue and aiming to synthesize an opportunity
to improve current concepts.
Methodology: It provides an overview of existing literature on supplying remote rural regions, with a special focus on emission-free transportation. It relies on quantitative methods, exemplary comparison and analysis of current good practices.
Results: The research results in the proposal for an implementation process for associated transportation concepts in RRAs, based on a detailed discussion of literature and practice. This combined logistical concept supports decision makers in their task of supplying their regions sustainably.
Conclusion: The paper concludes that freedom from emission is claimed more often than it is realised. Nevertheless, often independent RRA systems provide favourable conditions for achieving the Green Deal objective, assuming that funding and interest in the issue are given.