A Survey on Environmentally Friendly Vehicle Routing Problem and a Proposal of Its Classification

Erfan Ghorbani, Mahdi Alinaghian, Gevork. B. Gharehpetian, Sajad Mohammadi and Guido Perboli
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Erfan Ghorbani: Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, 84156 Isfahan, Iran
Mahdi Alinaghian: Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, 84156 Isfahan, Iran
Gevork. B. Gharehpetian: Electrical Engineering Department, Amirkabir University of Technology, 11369 Tehran, Iran
Sajad Mohammadi: Department of Electrical Engineering, Bu-Ali Sina University, 65331 Hamedan, Iran
Guido Perboli: Department of Management and Production Engineering, 10129 Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 21, 1-71

Abstract: The growth of environmental awareness and more robust enforcement of numerous regulations to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have directed efforts towards addressing current environmental challenges. Considering the Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP), one of the effective strategies to control greenhouse gas emissions is to convert the fossil fuel-powered fleet into Environmentally Friendly Vehicles (EFVs). Given the multitude of constraints and assumptions defined for different types of VRPs, as well as assumptions and operational constraints specific to each type of EFV, many variants of environmentally friendly VRPs (EF-VRP) have been introduced. In this paper, studies conducted on the subject of EF-VRP are reviewed, considering all the road transport EFV types and problem variants, and classifying and discussing with a single holistic vision. The aim of this paper is twofold. First, it determines a classification of EF-VRP studies based on different types of EFVs, i.e., Alternative-Fuel Vehicles (AFVs), Electric Vehicles (EVs) and Hybrid Vehicles (HVs). Second, it presents a comprehensive survey by considering each variant of the classification, technical constraints and solution methods arising in the literature. The results of this paper show that studies on EF-VRP are relatively novel and there is still room for large improvements in several areas. So, to determine future insights, for each classification of EF-VRP studies, the paper provides the literature gaps and future research needs.

Keywords: environmentally friendly VRP; alternative-fuel VRP; electric VRP; hybrid electric VRP; green VRP; literature review (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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