Sustainability, Vol. 12, Pages 835: Modeling Method for Cost and Carbon Emission of Sheep Transportation Based on Path Optimization (Sustainability)

Energy conservation, cost, and emission reduction are the research topics of most concern today. The aim of this paper is to reduce the cost and carbon emissions and improve the sustainable development of sheep transportation. Under the typical case of the “farmers–middlemen–slaughterhouses” (FMS) supply model, this paper comprehensively analyzed the factors, sources, and types of cost and carbon emissions in the process of sheep transportation, and a quantitative evaluation model was established. The genetic algorithm (GA) was proposed to search for the optimal path of sheep transportation, and then the model solving algorithm was designed based on the basic GA. The results of path optimization indicated that the optimal solution can be obtained effectively when the range of basic parameters of GA was set reasonably. The optimal solution is the optimal path and the shortest distance under the supply mode of FMS, and the route distance of the optimal path is 245.6 km less than that of random path. From the cost distribution, the fuel power cost of the vehicle, labor cost in transportation, and consumables cost account for a large proportion, while the operation and management cost of the vehicle and depreciation cost of the tires account for a small proportion. The total cost of the optimal path is 26.5% lower than that of the random path, and the total carbon emissions are 36.3% lower than that of random path. Path optimization can thus significantly reduce the cost of different types and significantly reduce the proportion of vehicle fuel power cost and consumables cost, but the degree of cost reduction of different types is different. The result of the optimal path is the key to be explored in this study, and it can be used as the best reference for sheep transportation. The quantitative evaluation model established in this paper can systematically measure the cost and carbon emissions generated in the sheep transportation, which can provide theoretical support for practical application.