Climate calculation with focus on the environmental aspect in relation to cost for the construction project "Landvetter Backa Västra”.

Abstract

The greenhouse gases are currently the main cause of the increasing global warming, particularly due to carbon dioxide emissions. In Sweden, the construction and real estate sector accounts for 21% of greenhouse gas emissions, and Sweden has set a target to achieve net zero emissions of greenhouse gases by 2045. Against this background, the central part of the master's thesis will focus on climate impact, with a case study conducted on an ongoing road and construction project called 'Landvetter Backa Västra', and the aim of this project is to study the project's emissions using life cycle assessment (LCA). Veidekke's project involves constructing the road that leads to the new development area, a task that includes extensive blasting and challenging topography. In addition to blasting, the studied project includes tasks such as road construction with asphalt, concrete bridge construction, pipeline laying, and steel structures. The idea and direction for the thesis was jointly developed with Veidekke. A literature review was conducted in the initial stages of the report using keyword searches in databases such as Google Scholar, Chalmers Library, and websites of government agencies. Information/data from the Landvetter Backa project was collected from a cost estimate calculated by Veidekke for the project. Five interviews were conducted, and two climate impact calculations were performed for the project using two different climate calculation tools based on data from the cost estimate. Anavitor and the Swedish transport administration have developed their respective climate calculation tools, which were used and compared in this report. Veidekke has a collaboration with Anavitor, and therefore, all calculations for alternative materials and fuels were based on results from Anavitor's carbon climate calculation tool. The result for the total carbon dioxide emissions for the Landvetter Backa project was calculated to be 1926 tons of 𝐶𝑂􀬶-eq using Anavitor's tool and 1665 tons of CO2-eq using the tool from the Swedish transportation administration. Diesel was the studied factor with the largest impact, accounting for over 50% in both climate calculations, followed by materials such as steel and concrete. Several materials with reducing 𝐶𝑂􀬶-eq were presented in the results and were weighed together for the Landvetter Backa project, resulting in a 56% reduction in total CO2-eq but with a 24% increase in cost. As this report also examines alternative environmentally friendlier solutions, it can be concluded that HVO100 would have reduced emissions by 47% for this project, but with a price increase by 26% per liter. Through research, it is also possible to note that both steel and concrete have more environmentally friendlier alternatives than the "standard product", where implementation of these alternatives could have reduced total emissions. Rock blasting, which is also studied in this report, currently does not have a good environmentally friendlier alternative in terms of reasonable cost and time increases. Keywords: