CO2 emission reduction by exploitation of rolling resistance modelling of pavements

Approximately one third of the Danish CO2 emissions come from the transport sector, whereof 95% is related to road transport emission. A reduction of the fuel consumption by approximately 3.3 % on the road infrastructure will result in 48 million litres of saved fuel and 45.000 tons less greenhouse gases per year. Energy saving road pavements will therefore contribute to Denmark's quota in reaching the global climatic goals. The Cooee project addresses CO2 emission reduction by considering energy efficient and environmentally friendly transport systems and maintenance of the road infrastructure. By doing so, the Cooee consortium will exploit the research results in management of the Danish road infrastructure. To contribute to a sustainable Danish road infrastructure by reducing CO2-emission in a cost-effective manner, Cooee addresses the following: 1. Novel pavements with low rolling resistance, 2. Models of rolling resistance, 3. Wear and ageing of pavements, 4. Measurements of rolling resistance, 5. Asset management systems. The Cooee project is a collaboration between the Danish Road Directorate, Roskilde University, the Technical University of Denmark and NCC Roads. The Danish Strategic Research Council granted in 2011 2 million EUR to the Cooee project. The Cooee project plans to create two models: A comprehensive model of the contact zone between the tyre and the pavement, and a model for the pavement material. When these are in place, performance and optimization models will be established and implemented in the Danish asset management system "vejman.dk". This will enable the Danish Road Directorate to include CO2-emission as a parameter in its strategic planning and maintenance of the Danish state roads. This paper presents the outline of the project, its expected results and the status. (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer review under responsibility of the Programme Committee of Transport Research Arena 2012