Liverpool road experiments could reduce carbon emissions by 71%

The Department for Transport’s £30m ADEPT Live Labs 2 programme has been exploring the impact changes in material for road surfaces, markings, and plant can have in the real world.

Liverpool’s streets have been the subject of the test runs, with experiments being conducted on Princess Drive, Everton Park, Pinehurst Avenue, Upper Pitt Street, Alderwood Avenue, Booker Avenue, and Alderfield Drive.

The DfT’s ADEPT programme estimated that the projects could save around 327.4 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. This is the equivalent of taking 130 cars off the road for an entire year, according to ADEPT. Following the experiments, if all of the lowest-carbon options are put into place, ADEPT said that it could lead to a 71% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions when it comes to the city’s roadworks.

Cllr Dan Barrington, Liverpool City Council’s cabinet member for transport and connectivity, celebrated the city’s role in being at the forefront of transport decarbonisation.

“This innovative programme is laying the foundations – literally – of our shared future of decarbonised road,” Barrington said.

“These trials, if they prove successful in Liverpool, can be rolled out across the UK, helping the nation to reach our net zero target.

“I am proud and delighted that our city is playing a leading role in this programme and am looking forward to even more innovative trials coming forward that will save energy and emissions.”

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The most successful of the experiments, according to ADEPT, has been the use of Milepave as an alternative road surface for Princess Drive. Milepave is made using lower mixing temperatures and fewer resources – leading to energy savings – according to its website. This includes utilising less bitumen, the oil-derived material that acts as a binding agent for asphalt.

Using Milepave rather than traditional asphalt is predicted to save approximately 152.6 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, according to ADEPT. That’s a reduction of 40%.

Everton Park’s experiment centred on its cycle lanes, with ADEPT using LuminoKrom for its cycle lane markings. LuminoKrom is a photoluminescent paint that is charged by light and glows in the dark for 10 hours without any external power support. This could reduce carbon emissions by 97% when compared to providing lighting from traditional sources like lamps, ADEPT stated.

Over at Pinehurst Avenue, the experiment has been using cold-applied road markings. This has delivered a saving of 3.8 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

At Alderwood Avenue, another lower-carbon road surface material reduced emissions by 37% compared to traditional methods.

Finally, at Alderfield Drive, the use of portable power supply Instagrid and other low-carbon plant and equipment saved 72.4 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

While the materials themselves are lower carbon, benefit also arises from the fact that they should, in theory, require less replacement over time as they are meant to be long-lasting.

Another round of experiments is due to begin soon, with the focus being on minimising carbon footprint through best practice in design, construction, and maintenance of roads.