The Local Council Roads Innovation Group (LCRIG) recently caught up with Sean Rooney, Head of Service – Highway Maintenance at Oxfordshire County Council and LCRIG Advisory Board Member, to talk about all things decarbonisation.
Q. What initiatives and strategies are Oxfordshire County Council implementing to reduce carbon emissions in your roads infrastructure?
A. As a corporate identity, we’re very involved in PAS 2080, and we’re working closely with our supply chain partner, Milestone Infrastructure, who have achieved the PAS 2080 accreditation. In terms of strategies, we set up an Innovations Register, around four years ago, with industry colleagues; this includes some of the carbon initiatives that we deliver. As a council, we have also been using warm-mixed asphalt for many years, and we were the first local authority in the UK to use a product called ‘G Pave’, which is the installation of graphene in surfacing. This reduces the overall carbon impact of a product, as the whole life of that surface is greatly increased. We have done three trial-sites for that, with some really positive results.
The majority of our plant and fleet run on Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (HVO) fuel, and we have also done in-situ recycling with colleagues from Stabilised Pavements Ltd. We look to use sustainable products wherever we can.
Q. What are the biggest challenges that local authorities and the highways sector face when it comes to decarbonisation?
A. Managing expectations of the public, of elected members, of our Directorate, and of our central government colleagues. Because, it’s a really critical aspect of what we’re trying to do, as we are facing a climate emergency; it’s not in 10 years’ time, it’s here and now. The cost of decarbonisation is also a challenge. When you look at carbon reduction, because we are utilising products that aren’t as well established, there is a higher cost.
Reducing budgets for local authorities is something that is a tangible issue, that we need to consider. Another challenge is skills and knowledge. A lot of the knowledge that we have is quite traditional, but it’s got a lot better through the work we’re doing around LCRIG Skills, and through LGTAG. But, there’s still a lot of people out there that are more resistant to change. So, part of the challenge is changing behaviours.
Q. Are there any challenges regarding the decarbonisation around the procurement of innovative products?
A. It’s about taking the risk, and our procurement colleagues are a little bit more risk averse. But again, LCRIG is all about engaging with the sector, engaging with SMEs and giving them the opportunity to reach out to the local authorities to actually put their products online and give the SMEs a greater opportunity to reach the highway authorities. I think that regarding procurement, we’re getting better and the development of the LCRIG IPS will help with this.
Q. Are there any projects that you are currently working that use renewable energy and/or sustainable materials? If not, are there any plans for this in the future?
As mentioned, we use HVO and earth-friendly materials. We also did a trial on one of our laybys, just outside on of the villages, where we trialled plastic kerbs, concrete mats for grips, plastic bollards, and so forth. The generated interest, as we used one location for different products that we can expand on and eventually become part of the ‘normal’.
We have also been trialling a foam-based product for the installation of posts for signage, and that has been really successful. But, one of the more exciting things, we put forward a business case, and have received some funding for a hydrogen fuel production to be developed at one of our depots, that will be trial process. We’ve got three vehicles: a fire engine, an ambulance, and a road sweeper. We will look to produce our own hydrogen in one of the depots. So, this hydrogen catalyser (or as I call it, ‘Rooney’s Magic Machine’), will allow us to look at alternative fuels.
Q. In what ways does the Council promote active and sustainable travel?
A. We have a very active Active Travel team! We use active travel funding, as we’ve been quite successful in getting funding from the bids that have been available nationally. We look to promote the greater use of cycling, as Oxford is a cycling city which we’re very proud of, along with the pedestrianisation of things. We also encourage bus use, and we promote the behavioural change of people through our policies, as it’s not just about the hard efforts, but around we change mindsets. From major schemes to our maintenance teams, active and sustainable travel is a high priority.
Q. How does Oxfordshire County Council monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of your decarbonisation efforts?
A. Working with Milestone Infrastructure, we have a Microsoft Power BI carbon reduction dashboard, which is used for monitoring. Through this, we get a summary of total carbon savings, and we consider the design elements, the materials, the plant and fleets, depots, etc. This is how we monitor the impact of the work on the ground, which is split down into each aspect, whether it be bridges, highway maintenance or structural maintenance. This also gives us a lot of information, down to the scheme level where we do an assessment which calculates the carbon footprint for every scheme and then we can generate the savings from that. This is monitored on a monthly basis, and I work with my team on getting this kind of information.
On a corporate level, we also have a quarterly carbon working group. Overall, we monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of our decarbonisation efforts through the use of intelligence and data gathered from a number of sources.
Q. As Oxford has a large student community in the city, do you find this helps with the active travel initiative?
A. It both helps and hinders, as it’s not just the students. As part of the carbon reduction strategies, we have zero emission zones in Oxfordshire. There are areas in the city, and eventually beyond, where cars that throw out carbon emissions, just won’t be allowed, or there will be charges.
We’ve also got a big investment working with our local bus companies for an electric bus fleet. The students do help with the active travel initiative, along with an increasing number of parents who take their children to school on bikes. However, it’s not just the city, but throughout Oxfordshire where these initiatives are put in place, such as the local cycling improvement plans.
Q. How does LCRIG drive change in the sector when it comes to decarbonisation?
A. As one of LCRIG’s pillars is decarbonisation, it raises the ability to share best practice between local authorities, and it allows SMEs to put forward products and test things in terms of materials, practices, processes, etc. LCRIG are also very successful in the delivery of webinars, which gives SMEs the chance to reach local authorities.
In terms of how LCRIG drives change, it is an ever-forward-thinking organisation, with such an excellent team driving this change. LCRIG also has the ability to influence with the contacts at DfT, which pushes up through the policymakers at a national level as well.
Q. What changes would you like to see in the highways sector as we continue to work towards net zero?
A. I’d like to see cost reduction, greater awareness, and a piece of work on behavioural change, as that’s something we need to work towards. I think we also need to reduce the number of trials that we keep doing. We also need to do more research in a collaborative approach, which is a key theme at the upcoming LGTAG Conference in June.
Collaborative research, and taking it from research to reality, is a key message that we need to push. Finally, we need to take a risk, as it’s okay to fail sometimes and we won’t know what the impact of these products are if we don’t try them, and we don’t allow people to fail a little bit.