ERM study on Ingevity Evotherm M1 asphalt additive offsets greenhouse gases by 18 to 23
Ingevity Corporation today announced that a study conducted by consulting firm ERM, London, U.K., has determined that the use of Ingevity’s Evotherm® M1 warm mix asphalt additive offsets the volume of greenhouse gases (GHG) generated in its manufacture by a factor range of 18 to 23.
Factors contributing to this determination were the replacement of lime, a corrosive material that contributes heavily to GHG generation, with Evotherm M1 in the production of traditional asphalt mixes, and the reduction of production temperatures required for asphalt paving using a warm mix asphalt as opposed to a traditional hot mix. ERM is a leading global provider of environmental, health, safety, risk, social consulting services and sustainability related services, and relied on an approach consistent with ISO 14040 principles to conduct this GHG life cycle assessment.
Ingevity is the technology leader for pine chemical-based specialty additives to the asphalt and pavement industry, and a pioneer in the rapidly expanding warm mix asphalt segment. The company’s world-leading Evotherm warm mix technology allows production temperatures to be lowered by up to 100 degrees Fahrenheit and replaces lime in the asphalt mix, thus improving the safety of the mixing process.
“The environmental advantages of using our Evotherm warm mix asphalt technology have been evident to Ingevity and our customers since it was commercialized,” said Mike Smith, executive vice president and president, Performance Chemicals, for Ingevity. “While we have made many measures of our own over the years, ERM’s study now allows us to quantifiably realize the net positive GHG benefits of Evotherm, beyond protecting us from emissions during paving, but also enhancing the roads we drive on by extending the life of the road.” He added that there is a reason Ingevity has sold enough Evotherm to pave a road well beyond the moon. “This technology has proven performance across the globe, and it saves our customers money.”
According to the results of the ERM study, the GHG impacts associated with the Evotherm M1 warm mix asphalt additive manufactured in 2019 totalled 22,575 metric tons of CO² equivalent. The total Scope 1 and 2 (as defined by the World Resources Institute’s GHG Protocol Corporate Standard) GHG impact in manufacturing Ingevity’s Evotherm M1 asphalt additive totalled 404 metric tons of CO² equivalent, as calculated by Ingevity. This reflects the energy consumed in the manufacture of the asphalt additive. ERM used life cycle modelling methods to quantify Scope 3 GHG impact, accounting for 22,171 metric tons of CO² equivalent, which included the transportation and manufacturing of raw materials, the incremental increase in asphalt components required to make the same weight of asphalt without the use of lime, and the transportation of finished goods.
The study also considered the GHG benefits from avoiding lime use and reducing fuel consumption by using Evotherm in asphalt mixing. By eliminating lime, Evotherm offsets the volume of GHGs by a factor of 13. Second, a range of fuel consumption savings were considered when using Evotherm’s warm mix asphalt, rather than the more traditional hot mix. Based on data from the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) and Ingevity, ERM considered the reasonable range of energy savings to be 15% to 27%. Using this range, the full total of 22,575 was offset by 413,533 metric tons of CO² equivalent in energy savings using the 15% fuel savings estimate, versus an offset of 510,368 metric tons using the 27% fuel savings estimate.
Smith noted that the use of Evotherm in asphalt paving provides additional environmental benefits. Based on Ingevity-generated data and estimates (separate from the ERM study) Evotherm can reduce sulphur oxide (SOx) emissions by 75%, nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions by 74%, and volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions by 90%.
