The carbon footprint of ‘delivering the goods’ with robots and automated vehicles

In the last few years, delivery robots and drones have popped up around the U.S., occasionally rolling, walking or flying up to people's doorsteps to drop off packages. But one consideration that needs to be addressed before widely adopting autonomous technologies is their environmental impact. Now, researchers reporting in ACS' Environmental Science & Technology show that automating residential package transport doesn't influence the greenhouse gas footprint as much as the delivery van's size and type.