Asphalt that locks in CO2 used on French project

A car park in Alsace, France has been laid with asphalt containing a bio-component binder from Shell that locks in carbon, rather than releasing it into the atmosphere.

Trabet laid 20 tonnes of Shell’s CarbonSink binder at this car park in Alsace, France. Photo: Shell

The project at Brumath Enrobés’s asphalt production plant in Bas-Rhin, was seen as the perfect testing ground for Shell’s Bitumen CarbonSink, with approximately 20 tonnes of the material used in the car park’s construction.

The new binder promises to lock in up to 250kg of CO2 equivalent into each tonne of bitumen and up to 13kg of CO2 equivalent into each tonne of asphalt.

Extrapolating from these results, Shell reports that, on an average kilometre of road, up to six tonnes of CO2 equivalent can be locked into the surface.

Ana Alvernhe, general manager for Europe, Shell Construction and Road “The decarbonisation of the construction industry is a challenge that will require effort from each part of the value chain, and this project is a great example of that type of cross-sector collaboration.”

She added, “It is fantastic to see Shell Bitumen CarbonSink used for the first time in France, helping to drive the decarbonisation of construction in another important market.”