A Quantitative Method for Carbon Emissions and Emission Reduction Technology for Bituminous Pavement Construction

Abstract

To develop a low-carbon construction model for bituminous pavement construction, this study divides the fieldwork construction of bituminous pavement into aggregate stacking, aggregate supply, and other stages. This study also reviews a list of previous works that investigate energy consumption during bituminous pavement construction and proposes a quantitative method for CO2 emissions. Based on this method, the proportion of carbon emissions in each stage is analyzed, and the weight coefficient of carbon emissions is calculated. An analytic hierarchy process is used to establish the judgment matrix within the system of bituminous pavement construction, which in turn facilitates the calculation of the weight coefficient in each stage. Moreover, the stages of aggregate heating, bitumen heating, and bituminous mixture mixing are identified as the key stages in quantifying the carbon emissions. The carbon emissions in these three stages account for approximately 64.19%, 14.56%, and 14.02% of the total carbon emissions, respectively. Following the energy evaluation of the key stages, this study proposes a low-carbon building technology scheme that considers both emission reduction and economic benefits. Through the two low-carbon reduction projects of changing the type of energy and reducing the water content, the carbon emissions and costs of bituminous pavement construction are significantly reduced. The proposed energy-saving and emission reduction scheme therefore provides a theoretical basis and technical support for the low-carbon development of bituminous pavement construction.