Two-Stage Robust Optimization Model for Fresh Cold Chain considering Carbon Emissions and Uncertainty

Sustainable development is an everlasting theme and lasting strategy in today’s era. Low-carbon economy is an inevitable approach to the implementation of sustainable development. Cold chain logistics has become one of the main sources of carbon emissions. However, in the research on location planning of cold chain logistics, the costs of carbon emissions have not been taken into consideration in previous studies. The two-stage stochastic optimization (TSSO) model was established based on the comprehensive consideration of transportation costs, time penalty costs, and carbon emission costs. In this case, it is extremely difficult to deal with uncertainty in TSSO model. Therefore, this paper constructs a two-stage robust optimization (TSRO) model using data-driven method and robust optimization theory and verifies the validity of this model through an actual case. The application of this method to a cold chain logistics enterprise showed that the service level of logistics cannot be guaranteed by stochastic optimization model. In the TSRO model, the costs increase by 2.18% at the price of robustness, whereas logistics service level shows an upward trend (from 85.83% to 92.75%). In the TSRO model, enterprises are forced to choose a better distribution path when carbon tax increases, which not only helps enterprises save costs but also achieves low-carbon environmental benefits.