CONSIDERATION OF LIFE CYCLE ENERGY USE AND GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS IN ROAD INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING PROCESSES: EXAMPLES OF SWEDEN, NORWAY, DENMARK AND THE NETHERLANDS

• Energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with life cycle stages of roadinfrastructure are currently rarely assessed during road infrastructure planning. This studyexamines the road infrastructure planning process, with emphasis on its use of EnvironmentalAssessments (EA), and identifies when and how Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) canbe integrated in the early planning stages for supporting decisions such as choice of roadcorridor. Road infrastructure planning processes are compared for four European countries(Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and the Netherlands).The results show that only Norway has a formalised way of using LCA during choiceof road corridor. Only the Netherlands has a requirement for using LCA in the laterprocurement stage. It is concluded that during the early stages of planning, LCA could beintegrated as part of an EA, as a separate process or as part of a Cost-Benefit Analysis.

Subject headings

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Naturresursteknik -- Miljöledning (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Environmental Engineering -- Environmental Management (hsv//eng)

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)