Life cycle carbon emissions from road infrastructure in China: A region-level analysis

To achieve carbon neutrality, it is urgent to quantify carbon emissions to support policy deployment. Based on life cycle assessment, this paper proposed calculation method for carbon emissions from road infrastructure in a Demonstration Zone, China. Based on scenario analysis, this paper quantified the carbon emissions currently and analyzed the trend and characteristics of carbon emissions of road infrastructure from 2020 to 2060 through 4 scenarios. The results show the carbon emissions fluctuate between 20 kt and 540 kt CO2 from 2013 to 2019 and increase significantly in 2014 due to the surge in road mileage. In the first three scenarios, the carbon emissions show an increasing trend after 2030, with annual growth rates of 1.12%, 0.57%, and 0.27% respectively. However, in the optimal scenario, the peak year of carbon emissions is 2024, with the peak emissions of 649.333 kt CO2 and an increase of 245% over the base year.