Comparison of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Associated with Reconstruction of Low-volume Road – Lithuania Case Study

Europe faces the ambition to drastically reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In road sector, most of the carbon footprint emissions are generated by vehicles. The remaining emissions are generated during the different stages of road life cycle. Therefore, European and other countries use methods to calculate GHG emissions and evaluate the impact of road construction and maintenance methods, and technologies on the environment. In Lithuania there is a little experience in using such tools, but it has committed itself to reduce GHG emissions not less than 40% comparing with the level of 1990 till 2030. Different modern and innovative techniques are available in road construction and maintenance, but their contribution achieving national goals is unknown. The aim of this research is to compare GHG emissions associated with reconstruction of low-volume road using different construction techniques. Analytical analysis was performed using Highways England Carbon calculation tool. This study showed that soft asphalt and warm asphalt technologies are more efficient than hot asphalt in terms of GHG emissions, which are respectively lower by 20.3% and 5.2%.