An eco-friendly satellite navigation system that could save logistics operators thousands of pounds a year in fuel costs and also cut down on CO2 emissions has been developed by Cranfield School of Management in Bedfordshire.

VREAM is an innovative vehicle routing model that has been developed by Dr Andrew Palmer from the Centre for Logistics and Supply Chain Management at Cranfield School of Management.

The system calculates the amount of CO2 emitted from road journeys, as well as the time and distance. VREAM will select the most fuel-efficient route by using roads on which a vehicle can maintain the optimum speeds that minimise fuel consumption.

The model uses a digitised road network containing predicted traffic volumes, to which speed flow formulae are applied. This means that the model is uniquely able to address the issue of congestion, as well as reducing CO2. It uses driving cycle data to apply variability to the generated speeds to reflect acceleration and deceleration so that fuel consumption, and therefore CO2, can be estimated.

Tests during research show that fuel consumption, and therefore CO2 emissions, can be reduced by over 5% if the most fuel-efficient routes are used. 

Professor Richard Wilding from the Centre said: "By using this technique, drivers will be able to identify the most fuel efficient route, an extremely useful option given the increasing cost of fuel That’s all very well. However can they not just simply start with inventing a ‘voice-friendly’ sat nav?"

Jackie Violet - Female First