PURPOSES : The authors set out to estimate the related carbon emissions, energy use, and costs of the national freeways and highways in Korea. To achieve this goal, a macro-level methodology for estimating those amounts by road type, road structure type, and road life cycle was developed.
METHODS : The carbon emissions, energy use, and costs associated with roads vary according to the road type, road structure type, and road life cycle. Therefore, in this study, the road type, road structure type, and road life cycle were classified into two or three categories based on criteria determined by the authors. The unit amounts of carbon emissions and energy use per unit road length by classification were estimated using data gathered from actual road samples. The unit amounts of cost per unit road length by classification were acquired from the standard cost values provided in the 2013 road business manual. The total carbon emissions, energy use, and cost of the national freeways and highways were calculated by multiplying the road length by the corresponding unit amounts.
RESULTS: The total carbon emissions, energy use, and costs associated with the national freeways and highways in Korea were estimated by applying the estimated unit amounts and the developed method.
CONCLUSIONS: The developed method can be employed in the road planning and design stage when decision makers need to consider the impact of road construction from an environmental and economic point of view.
When designing Water Distribution System (WDS), determination of life cycle for WDS needs to be preceded. And designer should conduct comprehensive design including maintenance and management strategies based on the determined life cycle. However, there are only a few studies carried out until now, and criteria to determine life cycle of WDS are insufficient. Therefore, methodology to determine life cycle of WDS is introduced in this study by using Life Cycle Energy Analysis (LCEA). LCEA adapts energy as an environmental impact criterion and calculates all required energy through the whole life cycle. The model is build up based on the LCEA methodology and model itself can simulate the aging and breakage of pipes through the target life cycle. In addition the hydraulic analysis program EPANET2.0 is linked to developed model to analyze hydraulic factors. Developed model is applied to two WDSs which are A WDS and B WDS. Model runs for 1yr to maximum 100yr target life cycle for both WDSs to check the energy tendency as well as to determine optimal life cycle. Results show that 40yr and 54yr as optimal life cycle for each WDS, and tendency shows the effective energy is keep changing according to the target life cycle. Introduced methodology is expected to use as an alternative option for determining life cycle of WDS.