Warehouse carbon emission of automation equipment’ using LCA approach: a systematic literature review
Nikhilesh Dwivedi, Amandeep Singh Oberoi, Deepu PhilipPurpose
The rapid commercialisation of automated warehousing spanning automated guided vehicles (AGVs), robotic arms and automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS) has significantly elevated energy consumption and carbon emissions across global supply chains. Despite growing policy attention and the adoption of standards such as ISO 14001, warehouse-level carbon accounting for automation equipment across its full life cycle remains fragmented and underdeveloped. This paper aims to systematically review existing literature on carbon emissions generated by automation equipment used in warehouse management system (WMS) processes, and to examine methodologies available for measuring CO2 emissions in both manufacturing and warehousing contexts, with a specific focus on the cradle-to-grave environmental accountability of automation technologies.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses-aligned guidelines, covering 64 peer-reviewed papers published between 2001 and early 2026, sourced from Scopus, Google Scholar and Web of Science. Search terms were refined through expert consultation and industry discussions. An initial pool of 130 papers was screened against defined inclusion criteria relevance to warehousing sustainability, English-language peer-reviewed publication and exclusion of WMS software-only or algorithmic studies, yielding a final corpus of 64 papers. The selected literature was organised into four thematic cohorts: production value chain, green warehousing, warehouse automation and life cycle assessment (LCA). Bibliometric trends and keyword co-occurrence networks were analysed to map the current research landscape.
Findings
While green warehousing and automation literature is relatively mature, this review identifies two critical underexplored gaps at the intersection of warehouse automation and LCA. Technology life cycle truncation where rapid equipment innovation cycles for AGVs and robotic systems challenge conventional LCA lifetime assumptions, elevating amortised embodied carbon per unit of service delivered; and energy-mix-dependent greenhouse gas footprints where regional grid carbon intensity and Scope 2/Scope 3 electricity sourcing remain inconsistently addressed in warehouse-level environmental assessments.
Originality/value
This is the first systematic review to treat warehouse automation equipment as a distinct LCA cohort, linking manufacturing-oriented LCA frameworks with warehouse-level carbon accounting within a unified four-cohort thematic matrix. The findings offer actionable guidance for researchers developing dynamic warehouse-specific LCA models, for practitioners internalising full life cycle environmental costs of automation investments and for policymakers designing green warehouse standards that account for equipment life cycle and regional energy-mix sensitivity.