Potential for Improving the Environmental Sustainability of Natural Aggregates Production (Slovenian Case Study)
Source abstract
Abstract
The environmental performance of natural aggregates for concrete and road construction, extracted from a dolomite quarry, was investigated. Environmental hotspots were identified, and potential optimization measures to further reduce the environmental footprint were proposed. The natural aggregates extracted from the dolomite quarry have relatively low GWP and a low environmental footprint in general. The GWP of 1 tonne of natural aggregates used in concrete production is 1.13 kg CO2 equiv., while for 1 tonne of aggregates used in road construction, it is 0.97 kg CO2 equiv. The dolomite rock in the quarry in question is tectonically fractured, such that very intensive extraction is not required, taking into account the blasting of the rock and further processing. The use of non-road mobile machinery is already optimized. Additional reductions in environmental impact could be achieved by powering the screening process exclusively with electricity from renewable sources, such as a photovoltaic system. In this context, integrating on-site battery storage systems might present a promising solution for addressing the seasonal mismatch between solar energy generation and processing demands.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Regional Development and Management Studies
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
Affiliations
Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute, Dimičeva ulica 12, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
GIC GRADNJE d.o.o., Sv. Florijan 120, 3250 Rogaška Slatina, Slovenia
Funding
The Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
References (50)
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