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Energy Use in Sales and Distribution via E‐Commerce and Conventional Retail: A Case Study of the Japanese Book Sector

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  • Eric Williams
  • Takashi Tagami

Abstract

Energy use associated with sales and distribution via business‐to‐consumer (B2C) e‐commerce versus conventional retail is analyzed for the Japanese book sector. Results indicate that e‐commerce uses considerably more energy per book than conventional retail in dense urban areas, because of additional packaging. In suburban and rural areas, the energy consumption of the two systems is nearly equal because the relative efficiency of courier services compared to personal automobile transport balances out the impact of additional packaging. The main reason e‐commerce does not save energy, even in rural areas, is because of the multipurpose use of automobiles; e‐commerce does consume less energy in the case of single‐purpose shopping trips by automobile. Overall consumption at the national level is nearly the same: 5.6 mega‐joules (MJ) per book for e‐commerce and 5.2 MJ per book for traditional retail. Although this difference is smaller than the uncertainty in the result, the structure of energy use for the two systems is quite distinct, which suggests reprioritization of energy‐efficiency strategies. Important factors influencing the energy efficiency of B2C e‐commerce include packaging, loading factors of courier trucks, number of trips per delivery, and residential energy consumption.

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  • Eric Williams & Takashi Tagami, 2002. "Energy Use in Sales and Distribution via E‐Commerce and Conventional Retail: A Case Study of the Japanese Book Sector," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 6(2), pages 99-114, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:inecol:v:6:y:2002:i:2:p:99-114
    DOI: 10.1162/108819802763471816
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    Cited by:

    1. Jan C. T. Bieser & Lorenz M. Hilty, 2018. "Assessing Indirect Environmental Effects of Information and Communication Technology (ICT): A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-19, July.
    2. Wang, Jianda & Dong, Kangyin & Wang, Kun, 2023. "Towards green recovery: Platform economy and its impact on carbon emissions in China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 969-987.
    3. Siragusa, Chiara & Mangiaracina, Riccardo & Tumino, Angela, 2020. "Environmental sustainability in B2C e-commerce: The impact of multiitem shopping," Chapters from the Proceedings of the Hamburg International Conference of Logistics (HICL), in: Jahn, Carlos & Kersten, Wolfgang & Ringle, Christian M. (ed.), Data Science in Maritime and City Logistics: Data-driven Solutions for Logistics and Sustainability. Proceedings of the Hamburg International Conferen, volume 30, pages 71-95, Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), Institute of Business Logistics and General Management.
    4. Wang, Linhui & Wang, Hui & Cao, Zhanglu & He, Yongda & Dong, Zhiqing & Wang, Shixiang, 2022. "Can industrial intellectualization reduce carbon emissions? — Empirical evidence from the perspective of carbon total factor productivity in China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    5. Ji, Jingna & Zhang, Zhiyong & Yang, Lei, 2017. "Comparisons of initial carbon allowance allocation rules in an O2O retail supply chain with the cap-and-trade regulation," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 68-84.
    6. Farreny, Ramon & Gabarrell, Xavier & Rieradevall, Joan, 2008. "Energy intensity and greenhouse gas emission of a purchase in the retail park service sector: An integrative approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 1957-1968, June.
    7. Tilman Santarius & Johanna Pohl & Steffen Lange, 2020. "Digitalization and the Decoupling Debate: Can ICT Help to Reduce Environmental Impacts While the Economy Keeps Growing?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-20, September.
    8. Lange, Steffen & Pohl, Johanna & Santarius, Tilman, 2020. "Digitalization and energy consumption. Does ICT reduce energy demand?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).

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