Drivers on London’s ULEZ roads will need to own a vehicle that passes either Euro 6 diesel standards or Euro 4 petrol standards. If a car doesn’t meet these eco-friendly regulations, drivers will be taxed a £12.50 daily fee for entering a ULEZ.  

So far, the expansion has generated £93.6 million of additional revenue through the taxation of non-compliant vehicles. 

An RAC analysis of Transport for London (TfL) figures shows that between November 2021 and June 2022, around 1.9 million journeys were made into the ULEZ every month by vehicles that didn’t fit the correct emissions standards. This resulted in £112.5m worth of revenue from drivers required to pay.

Nicholas Lyes, Head of RAC’s roads policy commented: “The expansion of the Ultra-Low Emission Zone in 2021 meant a far larger geographical area was covered by the mayor’s strict vehicle emissions standards. 

“For many, this meant a very stark choice: either replacing their vehicle with a compliant model or paying the £12.50 daily charges Failing to pay the charge wasn’t an option either as it would result in a hefty penalty charge notice.

“The expansion of the ULEZ has resulted in a much-increased revenue stream for Transport for London, notwithstanding the costs associated with introducing the larger ULEZ. Londoners living outside the current ULEZ will now worry about the prospect of further expansion, mooted to be at the end of August 2023.

Mr Lyes added: “We would encourage the mayor to take a pragmatic approach and redouble his efforts to support lower-income families and businesses with non-compliant vehicles with a targeted scrappage scheme ahead of any expansion plans.”

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Oil and gas multinational, Shell, has recently launched a new type of carbon-reducing bitumen that incorporates an innovative bio-component binder. Bitumen CarbonSink locks carbon into asphalt and bitumen, turning the road into technical carbon sinks. 

Set on more than just reducing carbon emissions, Shell has designed the Bitumen CarbonSink to both remove and store locked carbon. For every kilometre of road surface, the Bitumen CarbonSink could remove an astonishing 6 tonnes of CO2 (based on a model single surface layer, 50mm deep, 3.5m wide, 5% binder content). 

To put this performance into perspective, using biogenic materials in asphalt on the whole UK road network could save as much carbon as is emitted by 50,000 homes in an entire year.

Even at the end of the road’s life, most of the carbon collected from the binders will remain locked in: 96% of reclaimed asphalt pavement is recycled or re-used in other pavements, 76% is re-used in the manufacture of new asphalt mixes and a further 20% is recycled in unbound road layers. 

The new bitumen technology has already been launched in the UK by Aggregate Industries to create its ‘SuperLow-Carbon’ asphalt. Victoria Smith, Managing Director at Aggregate Industries commented: 

“Having been in the industry for many years now, change seems to have been very slow and gradual. This is a big leap in technology that is giving us a real reduction in carbon.”

“Superlow-Carbon isn’t just for the major road network. This product can be used anywhere from new motorways, new retail parks, sports pitches or your driveway.”

Shell’s new CarbonSink bitumen is currently being launched in multiple markets to be used at scale across the global road network.

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At the Road Surface Treatments Association’s annual conference this month, industry experts noted that local councils are falling short where reducing carbon emissions is concerned. 

Members of the conference identified that while councils have been testing innovative approaches with trials, many have yet to commit to enduring plans to tackle the carbon crisis.

Ross Bullerwell, managing director at North Yorkshire (NY) Highways, said: “Many authorities have a strategy, but are not necessarily doing their part. In North Yorkshire, we’ve pushed the council to come up with a five-year plan, which is around holding projects to account for what they are delivering”. 

He added: “We have to make sure that as part of the strategy, as part of our design, as part of declaring the carbon emergency, we must have year-on-year plans that deliver something. Otherwise, in five years, we’ll still be doing a little trial.” 

Transitioning from trials to long-term strategies will require hard work and a change in prevailing attitudes. Sean Rooney, head of highway maintenance at Oxfordshire County Council revealed that trials are often used to “get around procurement”, and that the industry must work together to “change the attitude of people” and enable future progress. 

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