As a publicly owned agency, National Highways鈥� goals are shaped by national policy. And since the UK government has made legally binding commitments to cut carbon emissions, National Highways has committed to reduce its own emissions.
鈥淲e are a big government-funded project, and from a policy point of view we do what we need to in order to reduce our overall carbon emissions,鈥� explains Katharina Ferguson, sustainability and supply chain lead on the Lower Thames Crossing (LTC).
A key trend in the past few years of energy transition has been the switch from operational to embodied carbon. As offices and homes increasingly use electricity from renewable sources, the carbon impact of a building now comes not from how it is heated and cooled so much as from the carbon emissions from cement, concrete and steel production, and by the equipment that delivers and installs it.
The same is true in transport infrastructure. 鈥淭he government put in place the transport decarbonisation plan which is removing diesel from new vehicles by going over to electric vehicles,鈥� says Ferguson. 鈥淔or the road sector that means that over the lifetime of a project like LTC, the overall emissions don鈥檛 come from the road鈥檚 operation, it鈥檚 actually the construction carbon which is the biggest emitter,鈥� says Ferguson.
This article was first published in the September 2026 issue of 黑料社 Magazine. Sign up online.
This was a challenge to be addressed when National Highways applied for the development consent order for LTC. 鈥淐arbon was a real challenge: How can you build this enormous big infrastructure project and not consider carbon?鈥� asks Ferguson. 鈥淪o we made a decision to go really hard on carbon and commit to a limit within our planning. That limit then became part of our planning and procurement with our delivery partners.鈥�
LTC is also designated as a carbon pathfinder鈥攖his gives it a role in piloting carbon-free technologies. 鈥淚t allows us to trial and pilot and test and embed and get that learning,鈥� says Ferguson, 鈥淎nd then ensure that both the supply chain gets it and that we can then cascade that into the rest of National Highways to meet that overall organisational target.鈥�
The technology of energy transition has moved beyond the innovation stage. The challenge now isn鈥檛 finding someone with a great idea; it鈥檚 taking good ideas and making sure that they work in practice. 鈥淲e鈥檙e here to push the boundaries of what we can do in low-carbon construction,鈥� says Ferguson, 鈥淲e want to scale up, and so it鈥檚 not just about innovation but about using tried and tested techniques at scale.鈥�
From the start, National Highways worked with the supply chain. 鈥淲e asked, 鈥楬ow far can you go?鈥欌�� recalls Ferguson. 鈥淭he answer we got was, 鈥楺uite a long way, at no cost.鈥欌�� There was plenty of low-hanging fruit to be plucked. The challenge was to address the big emissions sources.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the hydrogen focus and the electric focus,鈥� says Ferguson. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 where the cement and the concrete and the steel are key areas we鈥檙e focusing on.鈥�
When National Highways decided hydrogen was one way of addressing carbon emissions, the agency ran into a key blocker. 鈥淭he OEMs were saying 鈥榳e鈥檝e got the technology to do it, but no one鈥檚 buying鈥�,鈥� Ferguson recalls. 鈥淭he project partners were saying 鈥榳e want to do it but we can鈥檛 get the hydrogen, we can鈥檛 get the plant鈥�.鈥�
So a framework was established whereby National Highways would ensure hydrogen supply. After some false starts, GeoPura was appointed to supply hydrogen for the north side of the crossing. It is now being used both in generators鈥攖he site has poor grid connections鈥攁nd for hydrogen-fuelled equipment.
鈥淚t鈥檚 suddenly turbocharged,鈥� says Ferguson. 鈥淪uddenly you鈥檙e not talking about something that may or may not arrive, you鈥檙e talking to a supplier in the room who has got the expertise, who has got the fuel, and is able to work with the project partners on how to make it work from an infrastructure logistics point of view.鈥�
Logistics is key to making hydrogen a viable alternative to diesel. 鈥淲hatever solution you鈥檙e looking at, you鈥檝e got to look at how you get the fuel where it needs to go in order to do the thing it needs to do,鈥� says Ferguson.
As well as finding ways to cut infrastructure costs, LTC also needs to see that money spent on hydrogen equipment is delivering the same productive outputs. 鈥淲hat we鈥檙e watching really carefully is how the costs compare overall and constantly trying to analyse that back.
This grand experiment with hydrogen is informing LTC and its tier one contractors. And it is now reaching local SMEs in Kent and Essex.
This article was first published in the September 2026 issue of 黑料社 Magazine. Sign up online.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e often thinking longer term about where their business is heading and how they position themselves, but also how they learn and grow and develop,鈥� says Ferguson. 鈥淎nd what鈥檚 been so amazing to see is not just their investment in it, but also their interest.聽 They鈥檙e coming back to us and challenging us on what we can do next.鈥�
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