14 DAY TRIAL // A collaboration between engineers at the Lafarge Tarmac company and the Carbon Trust, in the United Kingdom, has led to the development of new methods for increasing the carbon efficiency of industrial processes used to manufacture material needed for the nation's roads.
After a 3-year study, experts expect to save no less than £45 million ($74.5 million, €54.6 million) in energy costs associated with road materials construction over the next 10 years. If the new technologies are applied at a large scale, then the carbon efficiency of this entire sector may grow by 40 percent.
“This program is an example of how by establishing new models of working, we can unblock demand-supply stand-offs, to help the UK to deliver the infrastructure of the future, at a lower cost for taxpayers and the climate,” says the manager of technology acceleration at the Carbon Trust, Al-Karim Govindji.
The collaboration led to the development of a material called low temperature asphalt (LTA), which can be manufactured without heating its basic components – aggregates and bitumen – to temperatures exceeding 1,800 ºC (3,272 ºF), Click Green reports.