Low-Carbon Infrastructure and Carbon Neutrality Asset Managers Must Factor In

The Institute of Public Works Engineering Australia (IPWEA) has published an article highlighting the massive amounts of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere in the past 100 years through intensive mining and the use of fossil fuels.

The article says that the levels of CO2 in the atmosphere have been highest since 800 thousand years ago, and high concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere are trapping solar heat in the earth’s surface, causing climate change. The effects of climate change have been well documented, especially its increasing impact on infrastructure, the article says.

Countries have come together in climate accords like the 2015 Paris Agreement in commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to limit global warming. The latest is the Climate Ambition Alliance in June 2020, in which 120 countries pledged carbon neutrality by 2050, according to the article.

Regarding the number of carbon emissions per sector, the World Bank states that 70 per cent of GHG is from infrastructure constructions and operations. In Australia, infrastructure is also the most significant contributor to the nation’s GHG, according to the Australian Infrastructure Audit in 2019. 

There is “an urgent need for new ways to manage the planning, construction, maintenance and renewal of infrastructure assets to increase their climate resilience and achieve carbon neutrality,” the article says.

This means asset managers must include low-carbon options and carbon neutrality in the renewal, upgrading, and maintenance plans.

The IPWEA is developing a new Practice Note after Practice Note 12.1 that would help asset managers identify climate resilience options and low-carbon materials for use in infrastructure construction and maintenance to lengthen the asset’s life.