Effect of precast concrete pavement albedo on the climate change mitigation in Spain

Abstract

The widespread use of solar-reflective concrete pavements can mitigate climatic change and urban heat islands (UHI) by cooling the pavement surfaces that are made of concrete instead of asphalt. The methodology that was followed is based on the comparison between the asphalt and concrete albedo effects in a specific application and area. In this study, we found that a reduction of temperature in the terrestrial surface, equivalent to the removal of 25–75 kgCO2 /m2, could be achieved. Considering all the motorways and freeways of Spain, which is the third country in the world in km, a yearly equivalent carbon dioxide emissions reduction of 13–27 million tons could be reached. This value is quite high considering that the cement sector worldwide released about 2.9 Gigatons of carbon dioxide in 2016. Therefore, there is a positive balance in the use of concrete pavements. Furthermore, concrete is a material completely recyclable at the end of its service life and concrete pavement construction requires local resources, avoiding GHG emissions due to transport. An increase in the Spanish freeway network albedo by replacing asphalt pavements with concrete ones will improve the local climate change mitigation.