Including carbon emissions in the economic appraisals of road schemes

Following the introduction of the climate change act in the UK the quantification and reduction of carbon emissions has become a major driver in the policy of large infrastructure owners. To deliver on the targets set by Government it will be necessary to consider the long-term implications in terms of carbon emissions associated with investment decisions taken today. In order to understand the full impact of investment decisions on carbon emissions a whole life approach is necessary, whereby carbon emissions from the initial construction and future operation and maintenance are taken into account in the appraisal process. The research investigated a methodology for including carbon emissions within a whole life cost assessment, and looked at the impacts this had in developing a network road maintenance programme. The research had to addresses issues that included how the value of carbon emissions can be represented over time and how can the indirect costs (e.g. monetised cost of carbon emissions) can be compared alongside traditional direct costs (e.g. works costs).