Life Cycle Assessment Framework for Asphalt Pavements : Methods to Calculate and Allocate Energy of Binder and Additives

• The construction, maintenance and disposal of asphalt pavements may lead to considerable environmental impacts, in terms of energy use and emissions during the life of the pavement. In order to enable quantification of the potential environmental impacts due to construction, maintenance and disposal of roads, an open life cycle assessment (LCA) framework for the asphalt pavements is presented in this paper. Emphasis was placed on the calculation and allocation of energy used for binder and additives at the project level. It was concluded from this study that when progressing from LCA to its corresponding life cycle cost, the feedstock energy of the binder becomes highly relevant as the cost of the binder will be reflected in its alternative value as fuel. Regarding additives like wax, a framework for energy allocation was suggested. The suggested project level LCA framework was demonstrated in a limited case study of a Swedish asphalt pavement. It was concluded that the asphalt production and transporting materials were the two most energy-consuming processes, emitting most greenhouse gases depending on the fuel type and electricity mix.

Subject headings

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Samhällsbyggnadsteknik -- Infrastrukturteknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Civil Engineering -- Infrastructure Engineering (hsv//eng)

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Naturresursteknik -- Annan naturresursteknik (hsv//swe)

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

Keyword

Life Cycle Assessment

feedstock energy

asphalt binder additives

mass-energy flows

Byggvetenskap

Civil and Architectural Engineering

Transportvetenskap

Transport Science

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)