PDF · Útgáfa Nr 1800-961 — 15. maí 2024Assessment of embodied emissions of road infrastructure in the Capital Region and those created in the future development to 2040
A fair amount of development is planned in the Capital Region in the coming decade due to increased population growth. The municipalities within the region have dedicated themselves to build 37,159 new apartments in total before 2032 and the City of Reykjavík estimates to build additional 1200 apartments annually from there on to 2040. Additionally, some infrastructure development is tied to these new apartments and neighbourhoods as well as large scale traffic infrastructure development like Borgarlínan and Sundabraut are planned in the coming decade.This development in the Capital Region will cause a great amount GHG emissions to be released into the atmosphere. There is an abundance of research on buildings and green spaces, but less on the environmental impact of road infrastructure. This study aims to quantify the carbon embodied in the Capital Region’s current traffic infrastructure and estimate the emissions from future development. The results show that the carbon embodied in the Capital Region is 441,091 tCO2eq. In total the carbon embodied in the Capital Region in 2040 will be between 715,031-779,057 tCO2eq.
