GIRO-ZERO secures government funding

£400K funding from the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy will help experts from Cardiff University and Universidad de Los Andes steer the Colombian road freight sector towards a zero emissions strategy.

The GIRO-ZERO project will accelerate vehicle renewal and technologies to reduce the miles run, fuel consumed, and CO2e emitted by vehicles operating within the Colombian road freight transport sector.

Drawing on the team’s expertise in logistics, transportation, management science and economics, the project will assess the viability of adopting alternative technologies, such as low carbon vehicle technologies like electric vehicles, hydrogen and biofuels, and dynamic planning tools that enhance the planning and execution of trips run by trucking companies in Colombia.

Quantitative analysis, analytical modelling and knowledge exchange between project partners and its key stakeholders will seek to build capacity, too.

The researchers involved in GIRO-ZERO include:

• Cardiff University – Dr Vasco Sanchez Rodrigues (Cardiff University Lead and Principal Expert), Dr Emrah Demir, Dr Wessam Abouarghoub and Professor Anthony Beresford (Principal Experts).
• UniAndes – Dr Carlos Eduardo Hernández Castillo (Project Lead), Professor Gordon Wilmsmeier and Dr Juan Pablo Bocarejo Suescun (Principal Experts).

Dr Vasco Sanchez Rodrigues, Cardiff University’s Lead Academic on the project and Reader in Logistics and Operations Management, said: “We’re delighted with this funding, particularly, because the GIRO-ZERO project will be a building block for additional funding for four further years of collaborative research. The additional funding will be used to guide and facilitate the implementation of the recommendations derived from the project...”

“Our strategic collaboration with Universidad de los Andes (Colombia) and other South American universities is a steppingstone that will underpin Cardiff Business School’s aim to have an established presence in non-traditional higher education markets.”

The project, which will run from 1 February 2021 to 31 January 2022, was among the 1,406 submissions to the Colombia-UK Pact Programme Panel in August 2020.

The combined effort from both institutions on the GIRO-ZERO proposal meant that the project was one of only fifteen to receive funding.