"Closing-the-loop" for More Sustainable Transportation Infrastructure Materials: A Framework for Maximizing Mineral Resource Usage to Advance More Sustainable Cement-Based Materials

Concrete is integral to building and maintaining transportation infrastructure, but it is also responsible for nearly 10% of human-caused greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Most of these emissions are from cement production (70-90%). As 30% of cement consumption is for transportation infrastructure, the impacts of concrete need to be reduced to develop enable sustainable transportation systems. Typically, replace cement with supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) (e.g., fly ash from coal combustion or slag from pig iron production) is used to reduce GHG emissions. However, the supply of conventional SCMs is restricted. Society needs additional SCM resources to meet the demand for concrete materials while also complying with legislative requirements to reach net-zero cement GHG emissions by 2045. This work concurrently evaluates unconventional SCMs using industrial ecology techniques (i.e., life cycle assessment and material flow analysis) and experimentally determined mechanical performance metrics. This dissertation will present an evaluation framework, using material from California as a case study, to prioritize the adoption of SCM by concurrently considering (1) material performance, (2) resource availability, and (3) environmental impact reduction. Environmental impacts and global warming disproportionally affect historically marginalized and low-income communities. Thus, by enabling more sustainable concretes, this dissertation aligns with NCST and PSR UTC goals to develop more equitable and more sustainable transportation systems.

• Record URL:
  https://ncst.ucdavis.edu/project/closing-loop-more-sustainable-transportation-infrastructure-materials-framework-maximizing

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $35000
• Contract Numbers:

  DOT 69A3552348319

  DOT 69A3552344814

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590

  National Center for Sustainable Transportation

  University of California, Davis
  Davis, CA  United States 
• Managing Organizations:

  National Center for Sustainable Transportation

  University of California, Davis
  Davis, CA  United States 

  University of California, Davis

  1 Shields Ave
  Davis, California  United States  95616
• Project Managers:

  Iacobucci, Lauren

• Performing Organizations:

  National Center for Sustainable Transportation

  University of California, Davis
  Davis, CA  United States 

  University of California, Davis

  1 Shields Ave
  Davis, California  United States  95616
• Principal Investigators:

  Cunningham, Patrick

  Miller, Sabbie

• Start Date: 20231001
• Expected Completion Date: 20240930
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Cement; Climate change mitigation; Concrete; Environmental impacts; Equity; Greenhouse gases; Life cycle analysis; Recycled materials; Resource utilization; Sustainable transportation
• Subject Areas: Environment; Materials; Society; Transportation (General);

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01900325
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: National Center for Sustainable Transportation
• Contract Numbers: DOT 69A3552348319, DOT 69A3552344814
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Nov 21 2023 11:30AM