Carbon assessment tools for geotechnical applications

The road to achieve net zero has very much begun; however, quantification of the carbon impact of geotechnical assets is in its infancy. Unfortunately, a lack of guidance on the suitability of existing carbon accounting tools exists, not least in geotechnical applications, and improvement is required to help engineers make informed choices when it comes to carbon savings. This paper has contributed to this shortfall by identifying applicable tools (i.e. National Highways, Rail Safety Standards Board, eTool, European Federation of Foundation Contractors and Deep Foundation Institute, and Environment Agency), assessing them qualitatively (with a bespoke assessment matrix), and comparing their results when applied to two case studies (a road-widening scheme and an overhead line electrification (OLE) scheme. The results showed that all five tools identified lower carbon options; however, only two gave broadly similar results. Key limitations found were related to the databases used and associated obstacles that geotechnical engineers would have to overcome when delivering projects. Notwithstanding, the results also suggested that no individual tool could (or should) cover all geotechnical assets. Reassuringly, the results showed that each of the five tools identified were the best fit for different geotechnical applications—as such a flowchart is presented to aid geotechnical engineers find the best-fit tool for a particular application.