Life cycle cost, energy and carbon assessments of Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway

Sakdirat Kaewunruen, Jessada Sresakoolchai, Junying Peng

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

13 Citations (Scopus)
242 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway (HSR) is one of the most important railways in China, but it also has impacts on the economy and the environment while creating social benefits. This paper uses a life cycle assessment (LCA) method and a life cycle cost (LCC) analysis method to summarize the energy consumption, carbon emissions and costs of the Beijing-Shanghai HSR from the perspective of life cycle, and proposes some corresponding suggestions based on the results. The research objective of this paper is to analyse the carbon emissions, energy consumption, and costs of the rail system which includes the structure of the track and earthwork of the Beijing-Shanghai HSR during four stages: conception stage, construction stage, operation and maintenance stage, and disposal stage. It is concluded that the majority of the carbon emissions and energy consumption of the entire rail system are from the construction stage, accounting for 64.86% and 54.31% respectively. It is followed by the operation and maintenance stage with 31.60% and 35.32% respectively. In contrast, the amount of carbon emissions and energy consumption from the conception stage is too small to be considered. Furthermore, cement is the major contributor to the carbon emissions and energy consumption during the construction stage. As for the cost, the construction stage spends the largest amount of money (US$4614.00 million), followed by the operation and maintenance stage (US$910.61 million). Improving production technologies and choosing construction machinery are proposed to reduce the cost and protect the environment.
Original languageEnglish
Article number206
Pages (from-to)1-18
Number of pages18
JournalSustainability (Switzerland)
Volume12
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 25 Dec 2019

Keywords

  • high-speed railway
  • life cycle assessment
  • life cycle cost
  • environmental impact
  • cost

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Life cycle cost, energy and carbon assessments of Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this