Infrastructure Carbon-Cost Database

carbonsig.org · live MACC data layer

The data behind a project-grade MACC

AI quality & source summary
This database holds 783 sourced cost and carbon datapoints spanning the input materials of all ten infrastructure types, drawn from 247 independent organizations — government bid tabulations (FDOT, TxDOT), national cost systems (SINAPI, CPWD, MLIT), commodity benchmarks (USGS, SteelBenchmarker, World Bank), EPD registries (EC3, environdec) and removal-market trackers (Sylvera, CDR.fyi). Every value carries a verifiable source URL and a confidence tier (50% high-confidence). Validated against an independent held-out benchmark, comparable cost cells match to 7% median error — inside the 15% best-in-class target. The engine computes a live marginal abatement cost curve for 10 of 10 infrastructure types (20/21 levers), with functional-unit, product-spec, cost-basis and currency normalization applied so carbon and cost fuse into a defensible $/tCO₂e.
783
Sourced datapoints
of 887 rows · 104 documented gaps
247
Independent sources
organizations, every value URL-cited
7%
Cost accuracy (MdAPE)
vs held-out benchmark · target ≤15%
10/10
Infra types computable
20/21 abatement levers live
67%
Input-class coverage
32/48 classes carbon+cost paired
85%
Data freshness
cost rows under 24 months old

Coverage & quality scorecard

MeasureCurrentTargetStatus
Input-class coverage (48-class matrix)67%80%WARN
Infra types with a computable MACC10/1010/10PASS
Carbon–cost pairing92%85%PASS
Cost accuracy (MdAPE vs held-out benchmark)7%≤15%PASS
Provenance (verifiable source URL)100%100%PASS
Data freshness (<24 months)85%90%WARN
Confidence (high-tier share)50%60%WARN
Standards (ISO 14067/14068, EN 15804, Buy Clean, CBAM)alignedchecklistPASS

Marginal abatement cost curves — all 10 infrastructure types

Infrastructure typeLevers liveCheapest leverLeading abatement move
Roads2/2$0/tCO₂eSCM concrete
Bridges2/2-$11/tCO₂eGreen steel
Water2/2-$786/tCO₂eDI→HDPE pipe
Wastewater2/2-$96/tCO₂eClean PPA power
Transmission2/2-$11/tCO₂eGreen steel
Power Gen2/2-$11/tCO₂eGreen steel
Rail2/2-$141/tCO₂eGreen steel rail
Ports2/2-$11/tCO₂eGreen steel pile
Data Centers2/2-$96/tCO₂eClean PPA power
Buildings2/3-$11/tCO₂eGreen steel

$/tCO₂e computed live from sourced carbon + cost, normalized to a common functional unit. Negative = the lever pays for itself.

Sources — 247 independent organizations, every value cited

Florida DOTOur World in Data / EmberWorld BankLevelTen EnergySylveraGlobalPetrolPricesPWD Arunachal PradeshCDR.fyi / OPISPetroBazaarIRENAChemAnalystTransition AsiaGlobal HighwaysSteelBenchmarkerShenzhen Transport BureauNAPASobratemaIEAUN SDSN / ColumbiaDER-PRHerbies EarthmovingUSGSTaishan TransformerWestlake Pipe & FittingsCalifornia DGSTexas DOTUS Geological SurveyConcrete Network

Cost accuracy is validated against a held-out benchmark drawn from sources disjoint from the database (market-intelligence and trade indices vs the database's government and commodity provenance). No fabricated values: where a figure could not be sourced, the row is kept as a documented gap, never invented.

Why this database, with CarbonSig

Carbon and cost fused

No incumbent does both: EPD libraries have carbon, cost databases have price. CarbonSig joins them on one normalized functional unit so every lever returns a real $/tCO₂e.

Project-grade, not generic

Each lever is an editable node in a CarbonSig digital twin — swap a concrete mix or steel grade and carbon, cost and $/tCO₂e re-price live against your actual bill of materials and regional grid.

Auditable by construction

Every datapoint is URL-cited and confidence-tiered; accuracy is measured against an independent benchmark. A Carbon Attested Product (CAP) certificate survives third-party assurance.

Compliance-ready

Aligned to ISO 14067/14068 and EN 15804, mapped to Buy Clean thresholds and CBAM — the MACC becomes the cost curve a project engineer optimizes against where carbon is priced.

Integration with the CarbonSig MACC tool

The database is the data layer beneath the CarbonSig engine. The flow:

Bill of materials→this database (carbon + cost)→ MaccService→project MACC→ NeutralityOptimizer (ISO 14068)→CAP certificate

Each material/process in the asset resolves to a sourced carbon factor and cost; the MACC engine computes $/tCO₂e = Δcost ÷ Δcarbon per lever, ranks cheapest-first, and places the carbon-price cutoff. The neutrality optimizer then reduces until a lever costs more than the marginal durable removal and neutralizes the residual — producing a verified, least-cost path to carbon-neutral for the asset.