Evaluating Carbon Emissions during Slurry Shield Tunneling for Sustainable Management Utilizing a Hybrid Life-Cycle Assessment Approach

Abstract

The construction sector is one of the principal contributors to carbon dioxide emissions (CDEs) and has a vital role to play in responding to the issue of long-term environmental sustainability. This research proposes a process-based hybrid life-cycle assessment (LCA) method depending on a process-based LCA and an input–output LCA. The process-based hybrid LCA model provides a supplementary method to quickly estimate carbon emissions that are not considered in the system boundary due to the limitation of inventory data. The proposed hybrid method was applied to a carbon emissions assessment in a slurry shield tunnel. The results suggest that 93.88% of emissions are from materials. Of the materials contribution, 55.9% comes from steel and 34.55% arises from concrete. It has also been found that emissions during the tunneling stage are negatively correlated with the efficiency of tunnel construction. Recommendations for carbon emissions reductions in tunnel construction are provided for promoting sustainable transportation and management.