Impact analysis using life cycle assessment of asphalt production from primary data

Abstract

Road construction and maintenance have a great impact on the environment, owing to the huge volumes of resources involved. Consequently, current production procedures and technologies must be properly investigated, for identifying and quantifying the life cycle environmental impacts produced. In this paper, primary data, i.e., site-specific data directly collected or measured on a reference plant, are analyzed for calculating the impact of the production of a hot mix asphalt. The analysis is performed in a from “cradle to gate” approach to estimate the environmental burdens of the production process in an average plant, representative of the existing technology in Italy and Southern Europe. The research outcomes are useful to increase reliability in quantification of asphalt production impacts and the contribution of each component. The results represent a reference basis for producers, designers, and contractors in the decisional phases, identifying the most critical aspects in the current practice and the possible improvements for reducing impacts of road industries. In this regard, efficient energy technologies for reducing the production temperature (such as warm mix asphalt) and burned fuels are proven to assure relevant improvements in the environmental performance.