Lower Thames Crossing asks leading UK universities to ‘kick the tyres’ of carbon forecasts

The proposed Lower Thames Crossing is National Highways’ most ambitious project, designed to ease congestion on the Dartford Crossing and boost the economy by creating a new crossing over the Thames east of London. The new road and tunnel is being designed to be the greenest road ever built in the UK, and has been designated a Pathfinder project that will explore ways to be carbon neutral in construction. It is the first major UK infrastructure project to have put carbon reduction at the heart of its procurement process.

National Highways has set an ambitious low carbon baseline for the construction phase of the project, and developed a carbon calculator to inform decisions on carbon reduction based on “PAS2080:2016 Carbon Management in Infrastructure” standards. The project has now appointed UKCRIC Ltd to carry out an independent assurance that the carbon calculations are accurately capturing all the substantive emissions resulting from this project.

UKCRIC Ltd will assess compliance with PAS2080:2016 processes; whether the assumptions made reflect wider good practice for carbon assessment; the quality of data and accuracy of data processing; and whether the indicative results of the carbon calculator for carbon savings compare with low carbon good practice in the construction industry.

Seraphine Appel, UKCRIC Research Fellow and Project Manager for the carbon calculator evaluation, said: “Helping the UK meet its carbon targets and decarbonising infrastructure through more efficient sustainable design is a key element of UKCRIC’s research agenda. We are delighted to be working with National Highways on the Lower Thames Crossing; making a valuable assessment of their carbon calculator and contributing to the carbon reduction planning of such a nationally significant infrastructure project."

Andrew Kidd, Director of Solutions & Outcomes, Lower Thames Crossing, said: “As a Pathfinder project, we are exploring new and innovative ways to achieve carbon neutral construction.  We have effective tools that we’re using to understand the potential emissions from the scheme and help us focus on the areas where we can deliver the greatest reductions in emissions. We are committed to transparency and to sharing what we learn and are pleased to have appointed UKRIC Ltd to provide independent review of our calculations.”

The assessment of the carbon calculator will be completed by UKCRIC Ltd via a collaborative project with six UKCRIC partner universities including University of Cambridge, University of Manchester, Cranfield University, University of Edinburgh, Loughborough University, and University College London.

Read the full press release.

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