“Also, there’s the improvement in technology, with battery prices coming down. Those economics will drive a rapid transition to EVs, so I think we might find the transition to zero road user emissions easier than you might first think.”
Elderkin, however, suggested eliminating emissions from the construction and maintenance of roads by 2040 is going to be the biggest challenge to overcome.
“We use a lot of materials – they need to be transported, but they also need to be mined. And quite a lot of them are energy intensive to produce with some of them releasing carbon dioxide as part of the chemical [production] process,” he said. “There are some real challenges in driving down construction and maintenance emissions.”
Surely the easiest approach – and one that is being taken by Wales – is to not build any more roads in the future? Elderkin dismissed this idea and said his team is going to take a more nuanced approach.
“We will implement a carbon management framework under the standard for managing carbon. It has a carbon reduction hierarchy. This includes ways in which we can deliver the value from infrastructure while building less,” he explained.
Elderkin also suggested greater use of technology could reduce the need to add extra lanes in some cases. “We have ambitious plans for digital roads; if they can increase capacity without building road surface it would be a win-win – cost-effective but it could also reduce material use,” he said.
“But the projections are that demand will increase on the roads, so we need to test ourselves about the best way of meeting that demand. That work needs to be done and we need to do that strategic research.”
Even if road-building is curtailed, Elderkin noted that maintenance will still need to take place. “If you’ve sunk a lot of carbon, energy and cost into creating a network, you’re going to want to operate and maintain it. So you’ve still got the same challenges to overcome in terms of construction and maintenance,” he said.