Life-cycle assessment of carbon dioxide emissions of asphalt pavements in China

An evaluation system has been established for assessing carbon dioxide emissions associated with asphalt pavement construction in China. As described in this paper, the system is based on the European driving force-pressure-state-impact-response model and uses the analytic hierarchy process combined with subjective and objective weighting and the comprehensive index method. It shows that state, response and pressure are the decisive factors. As such, the key factors that promote lower carbon dioxide construction of asphalt pavements are expressway construction investment, asphalt consumption, greenhouse gas effects, environmental quality and energy-saving and emissions-reduction technology. It is suggested that energy-saving and emissions-reduction technologies, such as warm mixing and geothermal regeneration, should be adopted in the construction of asphalt pavements and the concept of low carbon dioxide approaches should be promoted. The findings can provide technical support for decreasing the energy consumption and emissions in asphalt pavement construction.