Urban Freight Transport Electrification in Westbank, Palestine: Environmental and Economic Benefits

Abstract

Recently, due to the industrial and e-commerce revolution, the freight transport sector has grown rapidly and has become one of the key factors for economic development. Coupled with the growth of this sector, significant energy and environmental problems have arisen. Therefore, a huge effort has been made around the world in order to develop some solutions that could mitigate these problems. One of these promising solutions is electrifying the urban freight transport sector including the trucks and freight commercial vehicles fleets. In Palestine, as in other developing countries, the implications of this solution are still unquantified and the efficiency of the application is unpredicted. Therefore, this has necessitated a comprehensive study that considers all the relevant factors, such as the source of the electricity (renewable energy, oils, natural gas, etc.), fuel rates, and electricity rates. In this study, a prediction model has been developed using the historical data for the number of trucks and freight commercial vehicles over the period 2006–2020. Next, the total travelled kilometers, the total fuel consumption, and the total electricity consumption by the urban freight transport sector have been determined based on two scenarios (5% and 20% penetration of electric freight transport modes) during the next 10 years. Finally, the amounts of reduction in GHG emissions and the energy cost have been determined. The results have shown a significant reduction in the amount of GHG emission during the next 10 years by electrifying 20% of the freight transport sector in Westbank, Palestine. Moreover, an annual reduction of 66 million U.S $ could be achieved in total energy costs in this region.