E-Drone: Transforming the Energy Demand of Supply Chains Through Integrated UAV-to-land Logistics for 2030
Condition: Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Study type: Observational

Summary: 
      Vans are the fastest-growing category of licensed road vehicle in the UK with growing carbon
      dioxide (CO2) emissions. The proposed research into how Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and
      land logistics systems can be combined and managed will provide fundamental new understanding
      into the impacts of regulation and operating criteria on energy efficiency and costs. Medical
      logistics could be the first domain to utilise UAVs on a commercial scale, with preliminary
      analysis on pathology logistics within Southampton indicating that UAVs would significantly
      reduce CO2 emissions. With the National Health Service (NHS) spending an estimated £2.5
      billion annually on pathology logistics and with patient numbers rising, there is a need to
      re-think how logistics costs could be reduced whilst improving bleed-to-diagnosis times for
      patients and energy demand.

      The research vision is to examine the energy reduction potential of logistics solutions
      involving UAVs operating alongside sustainable last-mile delivery solutions (cargo cycles and
      walking porters via micro-consolidation points).

      This involves understanding UAV operations in airspace shared with manned aircraft. The
      project focuses on a case study and trials based around NHS pathology sample transportation
      in the Solent and Dorset region. The key research objectives are to:

        1. Investigate the collective transport and energy impacts of current 'business-as-usual'
           NHS pathology logistics across the Solent region;

        2. Develop new simulation tools to quantify the energy consumption of UAVs and land
           logistics systems resulting from new types of traffic regulation for shared airspace and
           the operating requirements of UAVs;

        3. Evaluate the impact on air space and energy use of a large scale take-up of UAVs for
           medical logistics across the Solent region;

        4. Understand stakeholder concerns about UAVs;

        5. Understand the regulatory and governance needs associated with UAV interventions that
           will lead to energy benefits in logistics.
    


Observational model: Case-Only
Time perspective: Prospective
Sampling method: Non-Probability Sample
Study population: 
        -  Task 1.1 - health staff/managers dealing with dispatch or receipt of patient
             diagnostics, bloods or pharmacy products at hospitals and GP surgeries, and transport
             staff..

          -  Task 1.2 qualitative - key stakeholder groups involved in the project including, NHS
             staff, will be via the project teams' commercial partners, and the general public.

          -  Task 1.2 quantitative - a representative sample of the UK population.

          -  Task 1.3 - logistics staff and health staff/managers dealing with dispatch or receipt
             of patient diagnostics, bloods or pharmacy products at hospitals and GP surgeries.

          -  Task 5.1 - key stakeholder groups involved in the project logistics providers, and a
             wider sample of the 144 organisations that responded to the Government consultation on
             the Future of Drones (January 2019).

          -  Tasks 5.2 - Two sub-samples from task 5.1.

          -  Task 6.2 - key stakeholders and members of the general public.
      
Keywords: Un-crewed aerial vehicles; Integrated logistics; Healthcare; Energy demand; Social practices; Governance