Solar-powered cargo trikes offer clean 'last mile' food transport in Amsterdam
By delivering local food products to cafes, restaurants, and catering businesses with solar-powered electric cargo trikes, Foodlogica aims to clean up the last leg of the local food transport system.
Both the demand for, and supply of, local foods has been rising dramatically the last few years, which adds to the resiliency of local food systems, as well as reducing transport-related emissions in that sector. However, one of the bigger sticky points of local food logistics is the dependency on diesel trucks for final delivery to the customers, which adds to the already polluted air in the city. But a new program in one of the world's leading cycling cities, Amsterdam, is working to change that, by offering tailored delivery services using solar-powered cargo trikes that promise "no emissions, no congestion, no pollution."
The Foodlogica system, a spin-off of CITIES’ Farming the City project, is currently leading the way to clean, reliable, and effective local food deliveries in Amsterdam, by providing food producers with a zero-carbon transport option for destinations of up to 100km away.
The e-trikes, which are produced by Radkutsche, have a custom cargo box on the back that can carry up to 300 kg, and can fit packages and cartons measuring up to 120cm x 80cm x 140 cm. To supply the energy that the cargo trikes need to make their deliveries, the Foodlogica system includes a shipping container retrofitted with solar power to recharge the trikes, which can be "relocated or replicated in a sustainable manner as the business grows."
© "Completely off-grid, our e-trikes are stored and charged in specially designed shipping containers retrofitted with solar panels. Running solely off solar and human energy, the crates, e-trikes and Foodlogica’s business can be set up and implemented anywhere the sun shines – free from fossil fuel. "
The base price for delivery from Foodlogica is 15 EURO, which includes deliveries of up to 5km with one stop, with additional charges for longer distances and multiple stops.
Based on figures from Cities, each food-related retail business (some 5000 of them) in Amsterdam takes about 6.5 deliveries of food items per week, which adds up to some 31,000 deliveries each week, and a whole lotta diesel fuel and emissions. Shifting to a cleaner method of 'last mile' local food transport such as Foodlogica could have a big impact on the city's air quality, and when using smaller cargo trikes like these, can ease traffic congestion in the city.
Good blog... This is very useful information for last mile delivery logistics solutions are very important. Thanks for sharing
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