Workshop on Infrastructure Life-Cycle Carbon Emissions Assessment for Railway Track Maintenance: Supporting Sustainable Decision-Making for Railway and Transportation Infrastructure
November 1st 2022, 8:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. CDT. (continental breakfast 8:00-8:30 a.m. CDT)
Location: iHotel, Urbana, IL (in conjunction with the 24th Railroad Environmental Conference)
This workshop concentrates on establishing strong industry dialog and participation in a project funded by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). The recently started project will develop a framework for Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) of emissions from railroad track and infrastructure maintenance and construction. Specific workshop topics include discussion on objectives, shared goals and scope, data sources, existing tools and eventual implications of emissions LCA for multi-modal transport decision making. We will also have experts from highway transportation to provide their experiences on the topic. The main objectives of this workshop are to:
- Explain the reasoning for development of rail infrastructure construction and maintenance emissions LCA framework, including its potential uses, relevant legislation, links to decision making, etc.
- Introduce similar development conducted on the highway transportation side
- Obtain insight from the industry and key stakeholders on the current status of industry activities in the area, including perceived pressures and institutional barriers and challenges
- Discuss project boundaries, goal and scope with the industry
- Identify industry advisory council candidates for the project
The workshop will consist of invited plenary presentations to frame the issues and pose the questions to be answered surrounding life-cycle emissions of rail infrastructure, followed by participatory workshop session to discuss and develop stakeholder responses. We want your input on these important issues, and your organization will benefit from participating in this effort by learning from other industry and agency contacts involved in infrastructure emissions LCA, and helping to shape future guidance and tools to conduct emissions LCA for rail construction and maintenance projects. You can find list of speakers in the Workshop Agenda.
This workshop is supported by the FRA and hosted by Michigan Technological University and the University of Texas at Austin, in conjunction with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Rail Transportation and Engineering Center (RailTEC).
Continental Breakfast and Lunch will be provided for workshop attendees registered in advance.
Registration:
There is no cost to participate in the workshop (in person or remotely), but all participants must complete the registration:
- To participate in person register through an option in UIUC conference registration by November 25th (make sure to check the LCA workshop option. If you have already registered to the Conference, you can go back and add the workshop to your registration). Space is limited, so don't wait.
- You can also register to remote online access (via Zoom) to the workshop plenary presentations will be provided, but involvement in discussions by remote participants is likely to be limited, so in-person participation is encouraged.
Click here to view the Workshop Flyer and Agenda
