AUTOMATED DELIVERIES

摘要

Could drone delivery help the environment? There are more than one million drones registered in the U.S. Most of them belong to people flying them for fun, but a growing number are used commercially. Companies including Amazon, UPS, Google and DHL are already exploring ways to deliver packages with drones instead of trucks. Our new research has measured how that shift would change the way the U.S. uses energy, and the resulting environmental effects. We found that in some cases using electric-powered drones rather than diesel-powered trucks or vans could reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. But in other cases, using trucks - especially electric-powered ones - would be more efficient and cleaner.