Abstract
Life cycle assessment (LCA) tools have been used by governments and city administrators to support the decision-making process toward creating a more sustainable society. Since LCA is strongly influenced by local conditions and may vary according to various factors, several institutions have launched cooperation projects to achieve sustainable development goals. In this study, we assessed the potential environmental enhancements within the production of road materials applied to the road network of Münster, Germany. We also compared traditional pavement structures used in Münster and alternative options containing asphalt mixtures with larger amounts of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP). Although the case study was conducted in Münster, the data collected and the results obtained in this study can be used for comparison purposes in other investigations. In the analysis, we considered all environmental impacts from raw material extraction to the finished product at the asphalt plant. Two environmental indicators were used: non-renewable cumulative energy demand (nr-CED) and global warming potential (GWP). The results show that using RAP increases the consumption of energy but potentially decreases the environmental impacts in terms of the nr-CED and GWP associated with the production of asphalt materials.
Highlights
In 2015, the United Nations (UN) established a plan of action to improve the prosperity of society
Since the asphalt producer was not able to provide an accurate value, the casing loss factor (CL) was determined by adjusting the average heat energy demand from the formula results to the average heating energy provided by the producer, i.e., 280.08 MJ/ton (Table 3, coal + light fuel oil)
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2013 method [36] and the Cumulative Energy Demand (CED) V1.11, based on the method published by Ecoinvent version 2.0 and expanded by Pré Consultants for raw materials and available in the SimaPro database, were used for the life cycle impact assessment
Summary
In 2015, the United Nations (UN) established a plan of action to improve the prosperity of society. A variety of studies have been conducted, analyzing the environmental sustainability of road infrastructure and of road pavements by applying the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology [8–20]. Gschösser [20,21] analyzed asphalt and cement concrete pavements for highways and main roads over their entire life cycle, focusing on the environmental and economic impacts of construction and maintenance processes, including material production. Both studies demonstrated the strong influence of material production processes on the overall environmental results, underlining the need to perform specific studies analyzing environmental potential within the production processes of road materials, as shown in various studies [13,16–19]. The analyzed asphalt plant was one of the main suppliers for the road netwAosrmk eonf ttihoeneCdityaboofvMe,ütnhsetearnaanlydzwedasaaslprheaadltypplarondt uwcainsgoansephofaltthme imxtauirnessucopnptlaieinrsinfgorRAthPe, wrohaidch newtweroerkalorefatdhye CbietiynogfpMaürtniasltleyr aanpdplwieads (ael.rge.a,dAyCpr2o2duTcNinwg aitshph4a0l%t mRiAxtPu)r.eHs coownetavienri,ntghRe AgPo,awl ohficthhe wDereepaarlrtmeaednyt obfeiMngobpilairtytiaalnlyd aCpivpillieEdng(ein.ge.e, rAinCg o2f2thTeNCwityithof4M0%ünRstAerP)is. tHooiwncerveears,etthhee gRoAaPl ocof nttheent DwepitahritnmtehnetdoifffMereonbtilaitsyphanaldt mCiivxtiluErensgtioneaemrinaxgimofutmhewCiitthyoouft Mdeütenrsitoerraitsintgo tihnecrteeacshenitchael RchAaPraccotenrtiesntitcs woitfhtihne stpheecifidcifmfeirxetnutresa.sphalt mixtures to a maximum without deteriorating the technical characteristics of the specific mixtures
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