When delivering shipments, drones often have a worse energy balance than courier companies, a German study showed. In densely populated areas, these devices consume too much energy, but could compete with delivery vans in rural areas.

In simulation, drones on average used up to ten times more energy than electric cars in a densely populated city like Berlin. Couriers serving customers on one street can stop and deliver several packages on foot. Drones can only deliver one package at a time. This often drastically increases energy demand. In turn, flying couriers are more efficient in sparsely populated rural areas.

During an ongoing pandemic, more and more people are ordering products online instead of going to the store. The growing number of shipments often exceeds the capabilities of courier companies. One of the solutions could be drones that automatically deliver packages from the warehouse to the customer. But for that we still have to wait.