Measuring Carbon Footprint of Flexible Pavement Construction Project in Indonesia

Abstract

Road infrastructure in Indonesia is mainly dominated by flexible pavement type. Its construction process, however, has raised concerns in terms of its environment impacts. This study aims to track and measure the carbon footprint of flexible pavement. The objectives are to map the construction process in relation to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, to quantify them in terms of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e) as generated by the process of production and transportation of raw materials, and the operation of plant off-site and on-site project. Data collection was done by having site observations and interviews with project stakeholders. The results show a total emissions of 70.888 tonnes CO2e, consisting of 34.248 tonnes CO2e (48.31%) off-site activities and 36.640 tonnes CO2e (51.687%) on-site activities. The two highest CO2e emissions were generated by the use of plant for asphalt concrete laying activities accounted 34.827 tonnes CO2e (49.130%), and material transportation accounted 24.921 (35.155%). These findings provide a new perspective of the carbon footprint in flexible pavement and suggest the urgent need for the use of more efficient and environmentally friendly plant in construction process as it shows the most significant contribution on the CO2e. This study provides valuable understanding on the environmental impact of typical flexible pavement projects in Indonesia, and further can be used for developing green road framework.

Lab-scale environmental impact measurement of polymer-modified asphalt concrete mixtures production

“…Not only GHG, but the asphalt industry has also been found to account for other emissions, namely particulate matter, NOx, SOx, metallic and organic compounds including released hydrocarbon [4]. Moreover, present studies on asphalt pavement indicate the influence of both mixing and transportation to site phases on the total emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, and dinitrogen oxide (N2O), all of which constitute the global warming potential impact category on a life cycle assessment, as well as the volatile organic compounds (VOC) and other air pollutants [5]- [7]. Judging from the condition in Indonesia, where the traffic was estimated to grow by 3% on average from 2019 to 2021 [8] and the cumulative damaged road in 2021 reached almost 175000 km or more than 30% of the total length of road infrastructure [9], advanced and improved asphalt materials as a significant constituent by 2 /3 of the total national road length [10] need to be promoted and the environmental impact needs to be evaluated to deliver the most sustainable solution of the road infrastructure development in Indonesia.…”

Carbon Emission Calculation Method and Low-Carbon Technology for Use in Expressway Construction

“…Many researchers have conducted related researches on the calculation methods of carbon emissions during asphalt pavement construction [7][8][9][10]. The conventional method employs the life-cycle assessment (LCA) theory to conduct stage division and calculate carbon emissions.…”