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Climate-friendly asphalt developed with researchers from Roskilde University will be introduced on all national roads

Should an ongoing pilot project confirm the expected effects and durability of the asphalt, the Danish government will from 2020 introduce climate-friendly asphalt across the entire national road network ready for new surface. The asphalt has been developed since 2011 in two research projects headed by Jeppe Dyre, who is a professor of physics at Roskilde University.
By: RUC Communications & Press


Climate-friendly asphalt reduces rolling resistance between tyres and asphalt, and it is expected to reduce road noise and motorist fuel consumption, thus lowering CO2 emissions.

“The specially-mixed asphalt will be very beneficial for citizens and companies, who can expect to save a combined DKK 40 million in fuel for each DKK million invested in the new surface. At the same time, the traffic noise will be reduced and significant climate benefits will be reaped by lowering road traffic CO2 emissions. By switching to climate-friendly asphalt, it seems we will be able to generate a strong effect with a relatively small investment,” indicates the minister of transport, building and housing, Ole Birk Olesen, in a press release issued by the Ministry of Transport, Building and Housing.

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The Danish Road Directorate and NCC Group (a Nordic entrepreneur and road service company) have developed the specific asphalt in connection with the COOEE and ROSE projects, headed by Roskilde University physics professor Jeppe Dyre, who has been responsible for the basic research part of the projects. The Danish Road Directorate is currently testing the climate-friendly asphalt on a total of 50 km of roads in different parts of the country in order to investigate its durability, wear resistance and driving properties. So far, the results of the experiment are promising, and if the expectations are met, the Danish government will begin surfacing all national roads with climate friendly asphalt, starting in 2020, whenever existing surfaces need to be replaced.

 

Kristine Niss Jeppe Dyre
Physics professor (mso) Kristine Niss and physics professor Jeppe Dyre from the Department of Science and Environment. Active photo by Uffe Weng.

“On behalf of the entire consortium, I am happy and proud of the decision to introduce our climate-friendly asphalt on all national roads starting in 2020. It is surprisingly difficult to measure reliably the rolling resistance of the roads. Therefore, the work with the testing of mathematical models for rolling resistance will continue in a specially-built laboratory at Roskilde University. The laboratory is the only one in the world designed for this purpose,” says Jeppe Dyre.

The climate-friendly asphalt will also be part of the government’s new climate and air initiative from 9 October 2018. 
 

Facts about the project:

The climate-friendly asphalt has been developed during two research projects, COOEE (2011-2015), which received funding of DKK 13.8 million from Det Strategiske Forskningsråd (The Danish Council for Strategic Research), and ROSE (2016-2018), which received funding of DKK 10 million from Innovationsfonden (Innovation Fund Denmark). Professor Jeppe Dyre headed both projects.

The COOEE consortium consisted of Roskilde University, the Danish Road Directorate, NCC, IFSTTAR (the French counterpart to the Danish Road Directorate), DTU (Technical University of Denmark and the consultancy company AfterMath.

The ROSE consortium consists of Roskilde University, the Danish Road Directorate, NCC, IFSTTAR, DTU, the German tyre company Continental, Greenwood Engineering and the consultancy company AfterMath. 
 

More information:

For more information, contact Professor Jeppe Dyre, email: dyre@ruc.dk, tel.: +45 4674 2284