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This research aims to investigate the adoption of future technologies in earthmoving applications. The increased development in automated driving systems (ADS) has opened up significant opportunities to revolutionize mobility and to set the path for technologies, such as electrification. The research also aims to explore the impact of automation on electromobility in earthmoving applications.

This paper adopts a multi-objective simulation-based optimization approach using machine learning in earthmoving applications.

This study concludes that ADS is “conditionally” an enabler for electrification. The study highlights and explains how local and global factors affect this conclusion. In addition to that, the research explores the impact of the equipment size on the integration of future mobility technologies. The shift from “elephant to ants” in the fleet selection resulted in improved feasibility from the integration of ADS in electrification.

This research provides fundamental considerations in the assessment of the impact of autonomous driving solutions on electromobility in the construction industry.

Electric freight vehicles (EFVs) are one of the solutions to improve city logistics’ sustainability. EFVs, that are electric powered light and heavy vehicles with a number plate, have the potential to make zero emission city logistics possible within the urban area. However, although trials have been undertaken for the last years, large-scale usage of EFVs in city logistics does not occur yet. EFVs are technically possible, but the implementation of EFVs in practice is relatively limited.

This chapter examines by reviewing current and past EFV implementations, what are the challenges, barriers and success factors for EFVs in city logistics operations. EFVs have especially positive environmental effects, but are overall usually more expensive (especially in procurement) than conventional vehicles. Besides, other technical and operational issues remain to be solved, and many uncertainties still exist on long-term usage.

Three main barriers for large-scale EFV uptake are identified. The current logistics concepts are developed for conventional vehicles and should be redesigned to fit EFVs better. Local authorities’ support is essential in order to find a positive (or not too negative) business case. And EFV implementation requires companies that want to be sustainable. This contribution presents examples of how some companies or authorities deal with these barriers.

This chapter concludes by identifying elements that are necessary for acceleration of EFV uptake in city logistics operations.

Climate change requires society to focus more strongly on sustainability. This requires an adjustment both on the demand side and on the supply side. Consumers must be given incentives to optimise their consumption according to sustainability aspects. In the supply of capital goods and consumer goods, firms must do their part to ensure that environmental savings are made possible and cost-efficiency. However, there must be doubts that a more resource-efficient production technology leads to the desired environmental effects. Policymakers ignore the Jevon’s paradox. The Jevon’s paradox states that an improved technology that leads to resource savings disproportionately increases the intensity of use. In absolute terms, there is a higher consumption of resources after the technology is introduced. This effect is currently ignored, for example, by all forecasts on demand for lithium for electromobility. Regardless of this, it is fundamentally better to optimise the technologies. However, this raises the question of whether the Jevon’s paradox cannot be undermined by artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence applied to production promises the possibility to replace partial optimisations with total optimisations. By pursuing an absolute maximum (maximum maximorum), the intensity of use is limited. Therefore, this chapter is concerned with understanding the primary effects of artificial intelligence in production and highlighting the potential effects on sustainability.

Purpose: Increasing the sustainability in industrial production is getting more and more important. Furthermore, the technology of artificial intelligence is getting more and more important as well. For this reason, it is time to understand how artificial intelligence and sustainability are linked with one another in the context of production.

Need for the study: This chapter aims to deliver a solid argumentation regarding the prospects and the relevance of the usage of artificial intelligence in the context of production. Moreover, it specifically aims to show how artificial intelligence affects the sustainability of production.

Method: Literature analysis.

Findings: The findings are that artificial intelligence does enforce cooperative action within the industry via the effects on productivity variables, transaction costs, and production elasticities. Furthermore, the Jevon’s paradox does not seem to apply to artificial intelligence. Therefore, it is suggested that more empirical research has to focus on this topic.

Practical Implications: This chapter highlights the importance of artificial intelligence for the topic of sustainability.

The author presents a tried-and-tested strategy for how startups can systematically and efficiently negotiate partnerships with established companies.

The concept consists of three elements: strategic balance, stakeholder alignment, and negotiation space. Real-world examples illustrate how this strategy can be applied.

The “strategic balance” element weighs the strategic benefits of the partnership against the strategic costs. This determines the negotiation strategy. The “stakeholder alignment” element gives due consideration to the interests and priorities of all stakeholder groups. Lastly, the “negotiation space” element is instrumental in streamlining the negotiations by focusing on the issues that are actually negotiable.

The concept can generally be applied to all aspects of negotiations between startups and established companies and has a long and proven track record in the real world. The issue of strategic balance in particular is useful in recognizing the strategic costs, which are sometimes hard to discern and only manifest themselves down the road, and comparing them with the strategic benefits, which are frequently obvious. A careful stakeholder alignment increases the chance that negotiations will succeed while building a foundation for constructive collaboration in the eventual partnership.

Startups that use this tried-and-tested strategy have a tool that can help them systematically and efficiently negotiate partnerships with established companies. The tool also helps the partners recognize early on whether negotiations actually have any prospect for success. The concept can also serve as a guideline for a corporate in negotiating a successful partnership with a startup.

This study aims to examine the links between carbon emissions, electric vehicles, economic growth, energy use, and urbanisation in 15 countries from 2010 to 2020.

This study adopts seminal panel methods of moments quantile regression with fixed effects to trace the distributional aspect of the relationship. The reliability of methods is confirmed via fully modified ordinary least squares coefficients.

This study reveals that fossil fuel use, economic activity, and urbanisation negatively impact environmental quality, whereas renewable energy sources have a significant positive long-term effect on environmental quality in the selected panel of countries.

The main limitation of this study is the generalisability of the findings, as the study is confined to a limited number of countries, and focuses on non-renewable and renewable energy sources.

Finally, this study proposes several policy recommendations for decision-makers and policymakers in the 15 nations to address climate change, boost sales of electric vehicles, and increase the use of renewable energy sources.

This study calls for a comprehensive transition towards green energy in the transportation sector, enhancing economic growth, fostering employment opportunities, and improving environmental quality.