Life Cycle Assessment for Transportation Infrastructure Policy Evaluation and Procurement for State and Local Governments

Climate change is one of the defining challenges of our time, and achieving mitigation targets requires urgent action to identify and implement strategies for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, identifying, quantifying, and then selecting among the many possible strategies to achieve GHG reductions is difficult, especially without a standardized approach for comparison. Presenting alternatives in a mitigation supply curve is an approach that has been used previously to compare the costs and magnitude of mitigation potential for different strategies. Some of the critiques of this approach include the lack of a consequential perspective in determining mitigation and the lack of a life cycle perspective in quantifying mitigation and economic costs. This research uses the principles of consequential life cycle assessment and life cycle cost analysis to improve on the mitigation supply curve concept to support evaluation and procurement decisions for transportation infrastructure. Results from pilot studies for road infrastructure indicate that a consequential life cycle approach for mitigation supply curves is feasible and can support agency decision-making and communication regarding those decisions.