Better roads. Less waste. Verified impact.
Road upkeep is one of the largest capital expenses local governments carry, funded by taxpayers.
We advance two primary pathways through roadbuilding: one that avoids emissions, one that removes them. Together, they lower cost and drive scalable environmental benefits, efficiencies, and pathways for sectoral transformation in the built environment.
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Three components of sustainable road building
Cold Recycling Asphalt
Cold recycling rebuilds roads in place using minimal material and energy. Reusing existing pavement on site at ambient temperatures eliminates material heating and heavy hauling. As the most significant emission cleanup in the paving industry, this process drastically cuts greenhouse gases, conserves virgin materials, and delivers durable infrastructure at a lower environmental and financial cost.
The first carbon methodology for road construction
Registered with Verra in 2019 under the Verified Carbon Standard, VM0039: Methodology for Foam Stabilized Base and Emulsion Asphalt Mixtures in Pavement Application is the world's first carbon methodology built for road rehabilitation. It measures the emissions savings achieved when cold recycling asphalt methods replace conventional hot and warm mix asphalt (HMA/WMA).The methodology provides a third-party validated framework for quantifying carbon reductions and issuing verified carbon credits from sustainable road construction.
Circularity
100% material reuse
Existing pavement becomes structural feedstock. No quarry expansion, no virgin aggregate. The road regenerates itself.
Air Quality
Zero plant VOC emissions
Ambient-temperature process, no plant heating, no stack emissions, no community exposure to volatile organics.
GHG Emissions
Avg 60% reduction
88-146 tCO₂/lane-mile baseline collapses to 38-125 depending on technique. Verified under VM0039.
Community Health
Less HMA plant reliance
Fewer truck trips through burdened neighborhoods. Reduces dependence on the 3,600 HMA plants disproportionately sited near vulnerable communities.
Speed
1 mile per day production
Same-day reopening. Communities aren't displaced by construction for weeks. Freight isn't rerouted across the network.
Cost
~45% project savings
88-146 tCO₂/lane-mile baseline collapses to 38-125 depending on technique. Verified under VM0039.
Carbon Storage in Asphalt
Processing biomass such as wildfire debris captures carbon, but this material needs a massive and permanent home to keep it out of the atmosphere. Road networks provide a globally scalable sink. Locking biogenic carbon directly into asphalt transforms everyday roads into secure carbon vaults.
Turning the road matrix into a carbon sink
Roads already require aggregate, stabilisers, and binders. By replacing a portion of virgin aggregate with high carbon compounds derived from biomass and waste streams, road infrastructure becomes a verified, long duration carbon sink, permanently storing carbon while reducing the need for virgin materials.
Biomass Waste
Waste biomass from forestry, agriculture, wildfire management, and disaster clean up is collected as a sustainable feedstock.
Pyrolysis
The biomass is converted through pyrolysis into engineered carbon materials suitable for construction applications.
Embedded in Road Base
The engineered carbon is incorporated into the road base, replacing a portion of virgin aggregate throughout the pavement structure.
Permanent Storage
Once embedded, the carbon remains locked within the road for more than 100 years, providing verified long term carbon sequestration.
Why storing carbon is critical
The US is scaling pyrolysis capacity to process wildfire biomass, forestry waste, and agricultural residue. That output is growing faster than agricultural markets can absorb, especially material from mixed or contaminated feedstocks that cannot be used in food grade applications.
By embedding these high carbon compounds structurally throughout the pavement base, not as a surface coating, road infrastructure becomes a durable carbon sink. The material is protected from decomposition by the pavement structure itself.
Municipal waste goes into municipal infrastructure. The disposal problem and the construction need exist in the same jurisdiction. This pathway connects them.
Recommended illustration: Cross section diagram showing engineered carbon embedded throughout the pavement base, with labels highlighting long duration carbon storage and structural integration.
Durable Sequestration
Carbon locked inside a road base is protected from decomposition and combustion. It meets the IPCC recognised 100 year stability profile, with conditions inside pavement providing an even more stable storage environment.
Less Virgin Aggregate
High carbon compounds replace extracted rock within the road base. Combined with cold recycling that reuses existing asphalt, this significantly reduces the demand for newly quarried aggregate.
Engineered for Construction
Engineered carbon materials are designed specifically for infrastructure rather than agricultural use, allowing a wider range of biomass feedstocks, including mixed and contaminated materials, to be safely utilised.
Active Pilot Programs
Carbon storage credits are currently being developed with the Rainbow Registry and two Isometric pathways. Louisiana serves as the active pilot state for field validation and verification.
A1: Raw Material Supply
Extraction and processing of raw materials. This includes quarrying aggregate, refining petroleum into bitumen, and producing cement, additives, and other construction inputs.
A2: Transport to Plant
Transporting raw materials to the manufacturing facility. Emissions depend on transport distance, fuel type, vehicle efficiency, and load weight.
A3: Manufacturing
Production of the construction material. For asphalt, this involves combining aggregate and binder at an asphalt plant. Conventional hot mix asphalt requires heating to 150 to 180°C, while cold recycling can eliminate or significantly reduce this stage.
A4: Transport to Site
Delivery of the finished material to the project location. Conventional rehabilitation can require around 400 truck journeys per lane mile, while cold recycling substantially reduces or removes transport requirements depending on the process.
A5: Installation
On site construction and installation, including equipment operation, compaction, traffic management, and lane closures. Cold recycling completes rehabilitation in a single equipment train pass, reducing construction time and disruption.
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Framework: ISO 14044 / EN 15804. The standard system boundary used for lifecycle assessments (LCAs), Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), and the VM0039 carbon accounting methodology.
