Front line services-climate change & carbon reduction

The road to greener highways

Peter White Project EngineerTechnical ServicesNewcastle City CouncilJuly 2009

Background / context• International: LA21, Kyoto Protocol

• European: EU strategy, (20/20/20) targets

• National: Climate Change Act 2008Energy White PaperThe Nottingham Declaration on Climate Change

• Regional: North East Regional Climate Change Declaration

Council Strategy

• How to mitigate the production of greenhouse gases which cause climate change (primarily CO2).

• Risk assess and plan to manage, the likely impacts of climate change.

Carbon Mitigation Programme• A carbon management programme which has been

developed with a carbon emissions savings target of 2.56% each year for 5 years and outlines a series of projects for implementation.

• These projects mainly focus on energy reduction in council buildings, but also cover fleet management and staff travel (Education and the procurement of products and services are also identified as key parts of the mitigation agenda).

Highway Works and the implications for Climate Change

How can we reduce the carbon footprint of the construction and maintenance works that we carry out?

Scotswood Road Improvement

• 3km single carriageway upgraded to dual c/w• Driven by new commercial developments and

traffic flows

• New road opened late in 2006• Value approx £10m

Earthworks• 8,000t topsoil set

aside for reuse• 70,000t recycled on-

site (into capping & sub-base)

• On-site plant saved approx 8,900 wagon movements

Carbon Emissions• On-site reuse and recycling saved approximately

8,200 wagon movements.

• If these journeys were to and from waste tips, suppliers and quarries with an ave 40 mile round trip

• Total mileage saved 8,900 x 40 = 356,000 miles• This would equate to nearly 590 Tonnes CO2 • Which is the CO2 produced by 100 homes in a year!

(Based on 600 wagon miles = 1 Tonne CO2 )(Ave Household CO2 of 6 Tonnes per year)

Highway works• 32,000t of carriageway

recycled into new material for road and footpaths

• Mobile recycling plant located just 1 mile offsite saved approx 145,000 miles in quarry journeys

• This would equate to the CO2produced by over 40 homes in a year

Scotswood Road 1950’s

Scotswood Road 2009

Wild flowers verges designed to be low maintenance (and a good wildlife habitat). This is a ‘greener’ option than a grass verge, which requires regular mowing for much of the year.

Cycling encouraged by providing both on and off road routes

Envirokerb

• Recycled plastic drainage kerb• Manufactured from 100% plastic materials

destined for land fill in UK and China• No quarried material for concrete production

Envirokerb – Civic Centre

Approx 15kg per unit (70% lighter than concrete equivalent)Can be hand laid

Envirokerb – Civic Centre

• Looks like concrete but will not chip or crack

Plastic kerb – reducing carbon footprint• Made from supermarket shrink wrap, not natural

resources• Impact resistant, Envirokerb comes with a guarantee

against breakage (0% waste from chipping or cracking during installation)

• Lightweight – reduced haulage traffic to site - needs no mechanical lifting plant

• Installed in half the time of concrete alternative• Reduced excavation and disposal of material

compared to conventional gullies and drains• Can be reused or recycled again

HTS Construction Waste Recycling April 2005-March 2006

97%

3%

RecycledNon-Recycled

30,000t of waste

• Bituminous• Concrete• Rubble &

Soilevery year

In-house RecyclingHighways & Traffic Signals (HTS)

Mobile Concrete Crusher

Saving approximately £30,000 and over 2,000 wagon miles every year

Concrete crusher• We used to take all our concrete waste

(broken kerbs and flags) to a local contractor for crushing and then buy back sub base at a discount price

• Saving these journeys and taking the crusher on site for larger projects can save an estimated 2,000 wagon miles (over 3300kg of CO2) per year

• The crusher cost about £30,000 and is actually saving that amount every year

Concrete Batching Plant

Crush our own aggregate

To make our own concrete

Rhinopatch• 5 yr relationship with Asphalt Systems International (ASI)

• 100% insitu recycling of bituminous materials

• 10,000 sqm repaired paAnnual saving against conventional patch repairs• 1,000t of waste saved from removal off site• 900t of virgin material not required• 2,500 wagon miles

nu-phalt• Very efficient heater• No disposal of waste • Minimal new material

required• Little noise or

vibration• Everything contained in one van• Green Business Award 2008 for “Best New

Product”

Scottish Institute For Sustainable Technology@ Heriot Watt University Edinburgh

Traditional Methods produce 51.62Kgs of CO2 /Square Metre Repaired

Traditional 11 trees required

Carbon Footprint – Traditional Repairs

A Mature Tree absorbs 4.75Kgs of CO2 Per Annum

nu-phalt infrared repair produce 4.28Kgs CO2 / Metre Square Repaired

nu-phalt1 tree Required to absorb CO2

Road Resurfacing

Approx 300,000 sqm pa

Sustainable Fleet

Street Lighting

• 39,000 street lights• 4,000 signs & bollards

• 22 million kwhr / year• Enough energy to boil

147 million kettles• 15,000 Tonnes CO2

Street LightingEfficiencies driven by soaring energy costs• 80% of street lights replaced in last 5 years

(start of 25 year SL PFI)• More efficient lamps• De-clutter (remove unnecessary signs etc)• Consider dimming / switching off• LED future?

‘Dark Skies’ award

Dept for Transport (DfT) approval for reflective and solar powered bollards

• Zero energy consumption• Zero emissions• Minimal excavation /

reinstatement• Minimal installation cost• Resistant to damage

Win / Win situation

Summary