This paper presents and analyzes the one-to-many vehicle routing and scheduling problem with electric vehicles. Initially, focus is given on the problem formulation and the restrictions imposed in practice are examined. EVRP is NP-hard in the strong sense since it is natural extension of the well-known Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem and requires substantial computational effort for determining optimal or near optimal solutions for medium and large scale problem instances. A comprehensive mathematical formulation is developed in order to model the EVRP and the multiple constraints appeared due to capacity limitations, time window restrictions and the predefined charging level of the vehicles. In addition, recent trends for the EVRP are analyzed producing valuable insights for future research regarding extra operational constraints, real-life data sets and solution frameworks that embody approximation algorithms for an efficient and effective search of the solution space

The changing energy landscape in Europe, marked with the development of the Energy Union in 2015, had a profound impact also on the European port sector. With European ports becoming key points of energy production, but also being prominent energy users, energy consumption has naturally risen into a top environmental priority for port authorities. To this end, the paper provides a pragmatic and comprehensive overview of the main policies, technologies and practices that European ports have adopted to-date for enhancing their energy efficiency. Addressing a gap that has been identified in relevant recent literature, it gathers actual data and port experiences from many different sources in a first attempt to better facilitate knowledge and experience-sharing activities, that will support ports in collectively moving towards a zero-emission and climate-neutral future. Most importantly, it presents an effort to rationalize research findings, assist in aligning them with practice, shed more light on the exploitation path of this line of research and better inform future research efforts.

Raising the environmental profile of European ports and promoting excellence in port environmental management and performance are key priorities for European ports policy. The need for well-connected port infrastructure, efficient and reliable port services, and transparent port funding is significant. Reducing energy consumption in ports has become a major concern for all port community stakeholders and ranks third in the top 10 environmental priorities of the European port sector for 2013. This concern has led 57% of European ports to develop energy efficiency programs and 20% of them to adopt measures for directly producing energy from renewable sources. This paper presents a structured approach for developing a port energy management plan (EMP) that highlights the main issues, challenges, and prospects that should be taken into account. The role of European ports in changing energy policy is discussed, and the value of a port EMP, either at the port authority level or at the terminal operator level, is highlighted. Pertinent issues for developing such a plan are described and analyzed. Insight gained from the implementation of the approach in six Mediterranean ports, within the context of the Greenberth project, is reported, and targeted recommendations and conclusions are provided about how this diverse experience can contribute to a robust port EMP.

Improving urban mobility and reaching the goal of sustainability is a key priority for the European Union. To this end, substantial efforts have been undertaken in several regions within the European context regarding the investigation and successful implementation of innovative and green urban mobility solutions. The knowledge and experience gained, at the local level, throughout the implementation process of such solutions is of utmost importance and significant added-value when considering their successful transferability in other cities/regions within Europe and beyond. Within the aforementioned context, this paper aims first to present a set of such innovative and green urban mobility solutions, as identified by leading experts within the framework of the EU-funded “SOLUTIONS” research project, and then assess the transferability potential of selected solutions in Mediterranean Partner Countries (MPCs). The identified solutions were clustered into four thematic areas namely public transport, transport infrastructure, city logistics and integrated planning/Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans. For each thematic cluster, existing urban mobility needs, gaps and priorities were assessed in three selected MPCs, enabling the identification of common priorities for the Mediterranean region as well as the selection and prioritization of promising urban mobility solutions fitting best the local context of Mediterranean cities thus presenting the largest potential towards meeting sustainability targets.