An unexpected side effect of e-commerce is the increase in air pollution – particularly nitrogen oxide – around warehousing hubs.
This is among the findings a new study, funded by NASA and published in Nature, that aimed to measure the air pollution associated with proliferating e-commerce and warehousing industries in the US.
The study used datasets of warehouse locations, traffic, and satellite observations of the traffic-related pollutant nitrogen dioxide (NO2) to evaluate the air quality and environmental equity impacts of these geographically-dispersed emission sources.
The net result is that the almost 150 000 warehouses in the US worsen local traffic-related air pollution with an average near-warehouse NO2 enhancement of nearly 20%.
Near-warehouse truck traffic and NO2 significantly increase as warehouse density and the number of warehouse loading docks and parking spaces increase.
The research concluded that there is a need for indirect source rules, incentives for replacing old trucks, and corporate commitments towards electrification.