Fehmarnbelt – a pioneer in carbon accounting

The Fehmarnbelt project is subject to particularly extensive and thorough carbon accounting. According to administrative manager Henrik Bay, who is in charge of CO2 at Femern A/S, the accounts form part of the overall environmental assessment of the link, which is one of few construction projects in Europe whose carbon accounts encompass virtually the entire process from the first dig to the decommissioning of the structure.

The accounts comprise CO2 emissions from the construction of the link, e.g. from machines, production of concrete, transport of materials etc. Thus, the construction of the link causes increased CO2 emissions. However, the opening of the link will result in a change in traffic patterns, which entails a reduction of CO2 emissions from cars and trains.

The reduced level of CO2 is caused by the fact that the travel distance of trains and cars will be shortened by approximately 160 km using the Fehmarnbelt link instead of driving through Jutland, Funen and across the Great Belt. This contributes to a significant reduction of CO2 emissions compared with the current ferry service between Rødby-Puttgarden. Preliminary calculations show that the Fehmarnbelt link CO2 accounts will be balanced within 30 years. Subsequently, the fixed link will result in lower CO2 emissions than would have been the case without a fixed link.

“The accounts will include the building and operation of the link as well as its traffic impact and, for that matter, its decommissioning. This covers a period of 120 years,” Henrik Bay explains.

Henrik Bay admits that such extensive accounts over such a long period pose major challenges.

“The aim is to produce actual and reliable CO2 accounts that are manageable throughout the process. Therefore, the challenge is, not least, to identify the appropriate level of detail. For example, we cannot account for every nut and bolt, but we do try to identify the appropriate materials and the correct quantities as early as possible in the process.” 

The large volumes of construction materials along with transport are key elements in the accounts.  However, different types of concrete have different weighting in the CO2 accounts, and it is therefore important to buy the right quantities of steel or concrete at the right quality and then to use them correctly.

Henrik Bay expects the Fehmarnbelt link to be CO2 neutral within 30 years. This means that by that time, the construction and traffic will have a lower CO2 impact overall than the current link. The exact figures will be presented when the environmental assessment is published next year. “The main focus right now is to produce detailed accounts that we can rely on and that are credible,” Henrik Bay points out.