University of Sydney study finds a third of the carbon of steel

An assessment by the University of Sydney, commissioned by Long Pipes, compared the carbon footprint of a 600 km pipeline built from three materials: The Fluid Highway® composite, steel and polyethylene (HDPE).

The results were stark. Steel emitted roughly three times as much carbon as The Fluid Highway®, and HDPE around two and a half times. A major driver is logistics: the study found the composite required about 565 truckloads of materials to site, against 2,240 for steel and 4,900 for HDPE.

The assessment captured the full picture — raw materials, manufacture, delivery to site, construction and operation — underlining how much a lighter pipe changes the equation over long distances.