the lower moisture content resulted in a 14,400 BTU per ton reduction in natural gas fuel usage, saving the company $0.13 per ton, for a total of $10,165 annually. Paving under the stockpile cost the company $10,000, so within a year, they’d recouped the stockpile paving expenditure. From a carbon reduction standpoint, a 1% reduction in moisture equates to a global warming potential reduction of 1.1 kg CO2e per ton of mix produced. Michigan Paving’s 0.6% reduction equates to a reduction of 0.6 kg of CO2e per ton. To put this in context, for a plant that produces 100,000 tons of mix per year, this modest reduction in fuel consumption would reduce GHG emissions by 60,000 kg CO2e/year. While these are not large reductions, HMA Manager John Peters of Michigan Paving stressed that these results were achieved by paving under just one aggregate stockpile — both the fuel-cost savings and emission reductions would be multiplied if more stockpiles at the plant were paved. Over multiple stockpiles and multiple years, the savings become significant. If half the asphalt plants across the country paved under one stockpile, this would yield a reduction of more than 125,000 metric tonnes CO2e/yr. This is equivalent to the annual emissions of nearly 10,000 passenger vehicles, assuming annual emissions of 4.6 metric tonnes per vehicle (EPA, 2018). Asphalt Performance Manager Shane Buchanan of CRH Americas Materials Inc. stated, “With the growing global conversation on lowering emissions, tied to our belief that climate stewardship is a part of corporate responsibility, reducing emissions through less energy consumption via stockpile paving provides considerable opportunity.” In this case, good environmental stewardship pays off in profitability. Paving under stockpiles is an easy way to decrease operating costs and carbon emissions. Learn more about proper stockpile maintenance and reducing emissions and costs with the resources below. MANAGEMENT OF AGGREGATE STOCKPILES https://www.asphaltpavement.org/uploads/ documents/M2M-Aggregate-Stockpiles.pdf AGGREGATE MOISTURE MEASUREMENT https://www.asphaltpavement.org/uploads/documents/ M2M-Aggregate-Moisture-Measurement.pdf ENERGY CONSERVATION IN HOT‑MIX ASPHALT PRODUCTION https://member.asphaltpavement.org/Shop/Product-Catalog/ProductDetails?productid=%7b7DA571B7-7701-EA11-A811-000D3A4DBF2F%7d EMERALD ECO-LABEL OPTIMIZER This feature of the Environmental Product Declaration tool allows users to measure CO2e reduction and economic savings when aggregate moisture is reduced. https://www.asphaltpavement.org/programs/ napa-programs/emerald-eco-label To read the original article by NAPA, please scan the QR code. https://www.asphaltpavement.org/uploads/documents/ Climate/NAPA_Case_Study_MI_Paving.pdf 26
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTg3NDExNQ==