Time-Dependent Green Location-Routing Problem under Carbon Cap-and-Trade Policy

Considering carbon emissions in location-routing decisions can contribute to the promotion of sustainable development in the field of transportation. This paper investigates the time-dependent green location-routing problem (TDGLRP) incorporating carbon emissions. The TDGLRP model is formulated as an optimization problem with the goal of minimizing the total cost under the carbon cap-and-trade emission policy. The total cost considered consists of that caused by the construction of distribution centers, the fuel consumption of vehicles, carbon emissions under the carbon cap-and-trade policy, vehicle use, labor, and dispatch of vehicles. A two-stage hybrid heuristic algorithm that integrates the customized greedy algorithm and the ant colony algorithm is proposed to solve this problem. The simulation results illustrate that the proposed model together with the intelligent optimization algorithm could calculate the location of distribution centers and vehicle routing efficiently by alleviating traffic congestion and reducing the total logistics cost and carbon emissions.