Benefits in Energy Savings and CO2 Reduction by Using ReclaimedAsphalt Pavement

摘要

This study uses the Pavement Life-cycle Assessment Tool for Environmental and EconomicEffects (PaLATE) and energy consumption data provided by local hot mix asphalt plants toconfirm the benefits of energy savings and CO2 reduction derived from using ReclaimedAsphalt Pavement (RAP). Other effective factors, such as the manufacture of binder, a plant’senergy saving strategies, and the performance of RAP pavements, are also discussed.According to the results of the analysis, producing 30% RAP mixture has only 84% ofenergy consumption and 80% of CO2 emission of a virgin hot mix asphalt mixture. Thereduction of energy consumption and CO2 emission is mainly due the reuse of asphaltconcrete. Although there are some studies that claim that mixtures containing RAP do notperform as well as virgin mixtures, as long as the life of RAP pavement can achieve over80% of the new mixture’s life, there will be positive benefits on reduced energy consumptionand CO2 reduction from a life cycle approach. Using RAP in pavement mixture is indeed afeasible and potential way to make pavement construction greener.