IoT Sustainable Transportation: The Role of iSIM


The transportation industry is crucial to any solution since it is the single largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. No single technology is enough to stop a climate disaster, but cellular IoT can help cut the carbon footprint of transportation in surprising ways. Although there isn't a silver bullet for preventing a climate catastrophe, cellular IoT can significantly impact the industry by lowering transportation's carbon footprint.

However, these systems need to be sustainable over the whole lifecycle, beginning with the manufacturing of IoT devices, in order to reap the maximum advantage.

How IoT helps make transportation systems more sustainable

1. Getting rid of wasted inventory all along the supply chain

The transportation industry is made up of all kinds of ways to get around, from passenger cars to freight carriers to e-scooters. Cellular asset tracking technology gives shippers real-time information about the state and condition of shipments as they travel, so they can make changes before damage happens. For instance, transport companies and logistics providers have commonly disregarded shipping pallets and containers as permanent fixtures. For example, they can fix temperature problems in containers or take shipments out of humid warehouses.

Damaged shipments increase a company's carbon footprint because of the need to produce and transport replacement orders. For example, shippers and carriers used to think that shipping pallets and crates were something that could be thrown away. Material reuse is facilitated by cellular asset tracking as well. Even it is shifting. With the cost of materials going up and the need to cut shipping costs and harm to the environment, pallets and crates must be used more than once.

2. Making routes and fleet management decisions that use less energy

Connected CO2 trackers can even measure emissions before and after changes to make sure that efforts to be more environmentally friendly are working. Without big data, it's hard for micro-mobility providers to see patterns of use. Making it possible for better fleet management choices and routes that use less energy. This causes a lot of fleet transportation that isn't needed. Micro-mobility service providers have a hard time spotting usage patterns without access to huge data, and a lot of idle fleet time is the result.

3. Supporting EV charging networks that use no electricity

Data from cellular IoT features can be utilised by fleet management platforms to ensure that electric scooters and bikes are placed in high-traffic areas. EV charging networks that use clean energy will make sure that electric cars are really good for the environment.

Cellular IoT can help with this. A device that charges EVs can also be part of the IoT. These smart EV chargers help us get a better idea of how much energy is stored. Smart chargers can prioritise the use of clean energy made locally if they can connect to the internet and have the right sensors. They help manage the redistribution of energy, encourage the use of renewable energy, and keep people from relying too much on fossil fuels. This makes sure that an EV is charged mostly when clean energy is being made. In short, the technology stack that makes it possible for EV networks to exchange clean energy is already here, and it depends on a set of SIM features that are made to be very secure.

Five ways in which iSIMs contribute to the long-term viability of IoT in the transportation sector

  • In most smartphones, user profiles are stored on physical SIM cards that may be inserted and removed by the user. They are expensive to produce and take up a lot of room in devices when compared to current SIM technologies.

  • IoT platforms with remote provisioning can update user profiles wirelessly, eliminating the need to replace chips. Many of the security vulnerabilities are resolved by embedded SIMs (eSIMs). They can't be tampered with because they are permanently soldered to the IoT module's circuitry, and they take up less room.

  • To some extent, an iSIM can serve as a trusted hardware anchor. That is to say. The IoT module's microprocessor incorporates a built-in iSIM (MCU). It puts an end to a typical IoT hacking approach by confirming not just the user's identity but also the device's firmware. Device manufacturers and end users can both benefit from the uniqueness of iSIM design, which leads to more eco-friendly practices.

  • Tracking less valuable cargo was not cost-effective. A larger population can realise these sustainability benefits thanks to iSIMs because they lower the total cost of ownership for Internet of Things (IoT) technologies. High-value items like large pieces of machinery were the original targets of asset tracking in the shipping sector.

  • If transportation industry decision-makers can't trust that the data they share is highly secure, they won't employ IoT solutions to minimise emissions. iSIMs provide a trustworthy hardware foundation for this safety. The increased scalability of IoT in transportation is another benefit of improved iSIM security.

Three ways in which iSIMs help the environment in the context of transportation IoT

  • Numerous iSIM Internet of Things modules are planned to link via low-power networks (LPWAN, etc.).

  • iSIMs can connect via standard, high-traffic cellular networks, but they can also be configured for lower-traffic, lower-cost low-range wireless area networks. These gadgets are designed to conserve power. The environmental impact of long-term use of the device will be reduced because these networks require significantly less power than high-volume cellular networks.

  • iSIMs reduce the electrical bill of materials. Hence they are cheap to produce.

Conclusion

The various benefits of cellular IoT to sustainability have already been highlighted, especially in relation to the transition to a carbon-neutral economy. Creating a more sustainable transportation industry that reduces greenhouse gas emissions would require more than just the Internet of Things.

Updated on: 20-Feb-2023

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