We’re making a positive impact on our carbon footprint through the way we construct and maintain roads in Dorset.
As part of our commitment to protect Dorset’s natural environment, climate and ecology we have set the ambitious goal of becoming a carbon-neutral council by 2040.
Here are some of the ways we are reducing emissions from our Highways service and helping protect our natural environment.
Low energy road surfaces
Asphalt is the tarmac-like surface you see on roads. It’s a mixture of aggregates (crushed rock and sand) and other binding materials. It is also used for car parks, pavements, and other surfaces.
Previously, asphalt needed to be heated at a very high temperature to reach the right consistency. Now, by using an additive with the asphalt at manufacture, we can lay it at a much lower temperature, and use more in one visit. This enables faster completion of resurfacing works, minimising time on site for contractors and disruption for motorists and, of course, saves money by using less energy.
Typically, conventional asphalt is produced at around 190 degrees Celsius. Low energy asphalt is effective at 40 degrees less, reducing carbon emissions by around 15%.
We’ve worked closely with our partners, Hanson UK, to develop use of this product in Dorset and are one of the first councils in the UK to use it on a large scale. Government says if all authorities switched to low energy asphalt, 61,000 tonnes of carbon (the equivalent of 300 million miles of car journeys) could be saved every year.
Going electric
We’ve installed a new all-electric container, known as a hotbox, at our Charminster Highways depot to keep asphalt hot while it is stored.
It is the first all-electric asphalt storage hotbox in the UK, further reducing the council’s carbon emissions.
It’s powered by an array of solar panels on our Charminster depot roof, making welcome financial savings, at a time when energy prices are soaring.
Keeping the asphalt stored at a consistent hot temperature enables our crews to take what they need to carry out local pothole and patching work.
The hotbox has replaced our depot’s propane gas-powered container that became inefficient due to heat loss, and increasingly expensive as gas prices rise.
When in use, it runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week using a maximum of four electric elements. It doesn’t use much more energy than a kettle and its purchase price was the same as new gas-powered box.
Using the power of the sun to keep moving
We have an array of 415 solar panels on our Charminster depot roof, made possible thanks to funding secured from the Government’s Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme. The Charminster scheme is one of more than 100 Dorset Council solar panel projects to benefit from this £19 million of central government funding.
This renewable energy, costing nothing to generate, is used to charge the depot’s growing electric vehicle fleet and power tools, and help power its buildings.
Excess energy generated by the solar array is fed back into the National Grid. We still need to use some electricity from the National Grid during the night when no solar energy is being generated. However, our next step towards energy self-sufficiency at the depot is investment in battery storage so we can store the excess energy generated during the day to use at night.
Government grant funding has also benefited over 100 of our properties, including schools, to improve energy efficiency with measures such as insulation and highly efficient replacement heating systems.
Recycling our way to high quality resurfacing
Traditionally, we sold our old road surface materials or re-used it as a lower quality coarse base material in highway maintenance projects. Now, thanks to new processes, it can be remade as a high-quality material for our roads.
Our partners Allasso Recycling based in Corfe Mullen can reprocess used material by developing a cold process. This saves energy, and by recycling we’re not taking valuable resources away from our environment.
Last year, we used over 14,000 tonnes of this sustainable surfacing. This is an increase of 8,000 tonnes on both the previous two years. Accelerating the use of sustainable surfacing contributes towards our carbon reduction objectives.
You can read more about the steps we are taking to tackle the Climate and Ecological Emergency (CEE) on our social media pages, and by visiting the CEE section of our website.
That is really heartening to read as I start my day.
Well done.
Congratulations to Dorset Council and all their partners in having the imagination, the co-operation and the will to make these initiatives happen.
No doubt there are more schemes in the pipeline and we look forward to hearing about them in due course.
It is encouraging to read of all the carbon-saving innovations you are using. Well done!
It was a pity the same care was not applied to the building of houses at Compass Point in Swanage. This was a missed opportunity to insist on eco-friendly building practices. The houses are fitted with gas boilers, and have no solar panels.
Well done Ralph Williams for writing what the silent majority of this county agree with the utter waste of millions of pounds and causing massive disruption to the ordinary motorist on the white elephant cycle lanes that are little used ,and fed up with the continue propergander of carbon footprints climate change at the expense of the reality of life ie cost of living housing the homeless, getting a doctors appointment and many other factors
I appreciate your article is about highways but the problem is far greater than this small effort.
As a Local Authority you are certainly NOT practicing what you preach. The environmental damage you are allowing to be inflicted upon the Environment at Parley Cross Roads at the the junction between New Road and Christchurch Road is a Disgrace.
Even in the last week many more More Mature Trees have been cut down and further hedge rows removed all at the expense of local wildlife.
As a result of these works traffic queues in all 4 directions for miles on some occasions it takes half a hour to cross the junction. Also if you now stand at Parley Cross Road you can taste the pollution. On a summers day you can see it.
When finally the road works are complete it is guaranteed that the proposed design will cause increased traffic delays and congestion. Also increase each cars journey from Christchurch Rd traveling East turning right into New Road by 1/4 of a mile, not a lot for one journey but add up over a year multiple by all the vehicles what impact does that have on the Environment.
You pro port to be “Green Council” far from it, the damage you as the Managing L. A. are allowing to be inflicted on the Country of Dorset will ruin it for all future generations and for ever. If the Government and Environment Agency had any sense they would take appropriate action to stop this wanton destruction.
As another example look at the disruption being caused by the construction of all the cycle lanes. Those finished don’t seem to be used a lot it seems and unlikely you will convince many motorists to give up their Cars. And how many many years of cycle miles will it take to recover the amount CO2 used and released into the atmosphere during their construction ? Item’s used such as the heavy plant used, lorries used transporting excavated and waste materials to landfill, the cost and impact of all the ready mixed cement and tarmac used including transport. Then you have the damage and loss of grass verge hedges some trees and animal and bird habitat. More Co2 is created when traffic controls are in place with long queues of standing Vehicles with engines running.
You will probably think from the above that I am some sort of oddball, far from it, l am just reporting what the “vast” majority of residents also think about your actions, or lack of it.
Please could you as a Local Authority take notice of what the residents what and not keep going blindly forward.
What is mentioned is just at West Parley and Ferndown but the problem is County wide the list is now endless.
You are Custodian’s of this County for a short moment in time why are you intent ruin it for both future generations and all the diversity of wild life.
Here here! Miles and miles of cycle paths and not a bike in sight! I wonder why! Only a very few of us in this retirement area are fit enough to cycle and those that are are probably too busy to take the extra time cycle journeys inevitably take. A WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY, The one place where bikes and pedestrians really need to be separated… along the prom… it hasn’t happened.
Just love the thoughtful and pragmatic approach of Dorset Council to green measures. Other councils should take note and imitate them. I am sharing this news with green friends living in London.
I don’t know if the new system was started very, very recently BUT the pot holes and damage to the the new surface of the road at Purewell cross, Somerford Road and the Christchurch bi-pass are already showing significant damage and all these road surfaces are, I think , less that 12 month old.
Hi John, these roads are in the BCP Council area so if you follow this web page you should be able to report them to BCP Council: https://www.bcpcouncil.gov.uk/Roads-and-transport/Report-a-problem-on-a-road-or-pavement/report-a-problem-on-a-road-or-pavement.aspx Claire
Glad to hear that industrial roof space is being used for local power generation. The hot box will in its own way be an energy storage device so a win win.
There seems to be little point in playing your game. I assumed that my original comments and questions would inform you of a deplorable state of a newly repaired road surface and question if this was resurfacing with the “new emission reduced process”
I wasted my time !!!