Sustainability

Semantically, sustainability means the ability to sustain, or in other words, it is "the ability to continue at a particular level for a period of time".[1]

In recent decades, the term "sustainability" has been increasingly used, sometimes imprecisely or ambiguously. However, this should not be the case, as the term "sustainability" has its basis in one of the "7 principles of the International Environmental Legal Framework," specifically, the "Principle of Sustainable Development."

The principle of Sustainable Development was defined for the first time in 1987 in the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) final report "Our Common future", better known as "The Brundtland Report" named it after Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland who was the chair of the commission. The report defines Sustainable Development as "... development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs"

Sustainability emphasizes the importance of balancing economic growth, environmental protection, and social justice, the Three Pillars of Sustainable Development . This definition recognises that sustainability is not just about protecting the natural environment, but also about creating a fair and just society and ensuring that economic development benefits everyone. Sustainability can be applied to various domains, including organizations, institutions, corporations, economic sectors, cities, activities, and others.

Applying this principle to different domains requires understanding the specific challenges and opportunities in each area. For example, in the context of a corporation, sustainability might involve reducing energy, water and resources consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, environmental management, promoting worker safety and well-being, and ensuring that the company's products and services are environmentally and socially responsible.

In the context of an economic sector, such as agriculture or energy, sustainability might involve reducing waste and pollution, promoting biodiversity and ecosystem health, and ensuring that workers are paid a fair wage and have safe working conditions.

Ultimately, achieving sustainability requires a long-term perspective and a commitment to balancing economic, environmental, and social goals. This can involve making difficult choices and trade-offs, but it is essential for ensuring that our planet and society can thrive for generations to come.

Sustainability vs. sustainable development

While stated previously that the terms are used interchangeably, there is still a subtle difference between the two terms. Sustainability tends to be narrower in its definition and application toward certain aspects and is often used in conjunction with sustaining renewable resources. “It is an inherent characteristic of healthy social and environmental systems. It is achieved by maintaining or enhancing various system capacities… so that the system can withstand external shocks and return to normal functioning.” When defined like this, it might lead people to think that energy fuels are not part of a sustainable future because sustainability must include renewable resources, but this is wrong. The aim of Sustainability is to reach the equilibrium between profit maximisation, environmental protection and social justice, it is an "equilibrium" between the three pillars and to reach that point we need to compromise a little bit of the other two until we reach a truly green economy based on technology and social justice.

Sustainable development, “involves managing resources in a way that is conducive to long-term wealth creation and the maintenance of capital.” This means that energy fuels can be included because they are an important source of wealth and creation and to human well-being. “Sustainable development is a framework that can deal with open, dynamic, and integrated systems, and one that acknowledges the interconnectedness of society, the economy, and the environment.” It is a process, rather than a destination (like the term sustainability implies), and “can be thought of as a frame for interactive assessment and decision making intended to achieve an evolving set of goals.

The role of the Oil and Gas industry in sustainability

The oil and gas industry has an important role in sustainability and achieving a sustainable development. The balance between all three pillars of sustainable development will be a challenge, and a “plentiful and economic supply of energy is a requirement for the economic and social pillars of sustainable development.” Oil and gas will clearly be a big component of that energy until alternative energy sources become more economical and widespread. During that transition, “the oil and gas industry has an important role to play in managing its operations safely and in reducing emissions, discharges and ecological impact while providing energy at a reasonable cost.” In the meantime, the industry can work now in trying to improve all areas of sustainability and their impact on the environment, economy, and society.

With talk and discussion of reaching a peak output and subsequent depletion and decline of oil/fossil fuels, there is worry about the need for alternative fuels and the prediction of oil and gas industry companies to become obsolete. While this decline is noticeable, it is still many years in the future. “The term ‘sustainable development’ in the oil and gas industry should not be used to mean sustaining the production of the product indefinitely. Rather it should mean meeting the needs of the global society for oil and gas at a reasonable cost, safely and with minimal impact on the environment until a suitable alternate energy source is available.” Essentially, the oil and gas industry needs to learn to adapt and expand to ensure sustainable development by whatever fuels become available. “Petroleum professions have an ethical obligation to consider the most effective uses of limited, depleting, and very valuable oil and natural gas resources.”

If the main goal of sustainability and sustainable development is to make sure that the world achieves a balance of economic development, environmental responsibility, and social progress, then there is no way to accomplish this if there are many countries that do not have access to energy to develop, maintain, and improve qualities of life and societal progress. “Petroleum and its products will need to play a continuing role in extending modern quality-of-life benefits to an increasing share of the world’s population.”

• Provide the technology, capital, trained personnel and organization to meet the needs of society for oil and gas safely and economically until alternate energy sources are available.
• Minimize the impact of its operations on the environment.
• Contribute to policy development by working constructively with all parts of civil society.
• Support the social objectives of the communities in which we operate.
• Demonstrate a high ethical standard.
• Along with improving these roles, the transition to a more sustainable future means that petroleum engineers need to be looking forward by:
  • Informing themselves of the breadth of the issues
  • Maximizing the value of increasingly precious oil and natural gas production, while mitigating environmental impacts, and seeking ways to optimize the use of petroleum
  • Supporting local development of petroleum energy resources in developing countries
  • Finding ways to extend the use of oil and gas, while supporting the market entry of new energy sources through creatively hybridized systems

Sustainability Standards

Nowadays, organizations, industries, and businesses in general are required to demonstrate their commitment to sustainability through voluntary efforts or by complying with new regulations. This is particularly important for engineers, who play a crucial role in designing, developing, reporting and implementing sustainable solutions.

As the world becomes increasingly aware of the impact of human activities on the environment and people, there is a growing demand for engineers who can create innovative solutions that balance economic growth with environmental protection and social justice. This requires a deep understanding of the principles of sustainability, as well as a commitment to incorporating these principles into every stage of the engineering process.

Reaching an equilibrium between economic welfare, environmental protection and social justice can be complicated, there is no a silver bullet or magic solution that apply to all. However, to reach Sustainability is necessary to attain certain goals that can be materialised, measured, verified, monitored and validated. In different areas, such as: managing environmental impacts, energy efficiency, life cycle assessments and green buildings, among others, applying standards is probably the most straight way to unify efforts, sharing knowledge and to provide some sort of accountability and verification on the non-financial organisation's performance.

One of the ways that engineers can ensure that their work aligns with sustainability principles is by following international standards like ISO, API, NABOSH, BSI, and others. These standards provide a framework for sustainable engineering practices, and help to ensure that engineers are following best practices and meeting industry expectations and regulations.

Noteworthy papers in OnePetro

Adham, S. and Minier-Matar, J. 2009. Water Sustainability and the Petroleum Industry. Presented at the International Petroleum Technology Conference, Doha, Qatar, 7-9 December. IPTC-13347-MS. http://dx.doi.org/10.2523/13347-MS.

Arscott, L. 2003. Sustainable Development in the Oil and Gas Industry. Presented at the SPE/EPA/DOE Exploration and Production Environmental Conference, San Antonio, Texas, 10-12 March. SPE-83062-MS. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/83062-MS.

Baxter, T., Bebbington, J., and Cutteridge, D. 2002. The Sustainability Assessment Model (SAM). Presented at the SPE International Conference on Health, Safety and Environment in Oil and Gas Exploration and Production, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 20-22 March. SPE-73968-MS.http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/73968-MS.

Baxter, T., Bebbington, J., Cutteridge, D. et al. 2003. The Sustainability Assessment Model (SAM): Measuring Sustainable Development Performance. Presented at the Offshore Europe, Aberdeen, United Kingdom, 2-5 September. SPE-83986-MS. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/83986-MS.

Boyle, B. and Depraz, S. 2006. Oil and Gas Industry Guidance on Voluntary Sustainability Reporting. Presented at the SPE International Health, Safety & Environment Conference, Abu Dhabi, UAE, 2-4 April. SPE-98585-MS. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/98585-MS.

Bradley, A.S. and Hartog, J.J. 1998. Sustainable Development - How to Assess Your Contribution? Presented at the SPE International Conference on Health, Safety, and Environment in Oil and Gas Exploration and Production, Caracas, Venezuela, 7-10 June. SPE-46878-MS.http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/46878-MS.

Browne, B. 1998. Strategies for Sustainable Development. Presented at the SPE International Conference on Health, Safety, and Environment in Oil and Gas Exploration and Production, Caracas, Venezuela, 7-10 June. SPE-46701-MS. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/46701-MS.

Colmer, R.A. 2007. People and Sustainable Development. Presented at the Offshore Europe, Aberdeen, Scotland, U.K., 4-7 September. SPE-108489-MS. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/108489-MS.

Delfgaauw, T. 2000. PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT IN DECISION-MAKING: Shell, sustainable development & stakeholder engagement. Presented at the 16th World Petroleum Congress, Calgary, Canada, 11-15 June. WPC-30031. https://www.onepetro.org/conference-paper/WPC-30031.

Dell, J. and Hart, V. 2014. Leveraging Sustainability in the Oil and Gas Supply Chain. Presented at the SPE International Conference on Health, Safety, and Environment, Long Beach, California, USA, 17-19 March. SPE-168485-MS. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/168485-MS.

Dieck-Assad, F.A. 2005. The Role of Energy in Sustainable Development: The Mexican Case. Presented at the Canadian International Petroleum Conference, Calgary, Alberta, 7-9 June. PETSOC-2005-054. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/2005-054.

Ebenhack, B.W. and Martinez, D.M. 2008. What Does Sustainability Mean to Petroleum? Presented at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, Denver, Colorado, 21-24 September. SPE-116222-MS. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/116222-MS.

Holgate, M.J.M., Kerr, S.A., King, A. et al. 2000. Prioritising Environmental Investment through Sustainable Development Targets. Presented at the SPE International Conference on Health, Safety and Environment in Oil and Gas Exploration and Production, Stavanger, Norway, 26-28 June. SPE-61108-MS. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/61108-MS.

Knott, M.G., Rosenbeck, J., and Burnham, M. 2014. Sustainability: The Role of SH&E Professionals. Professional Safety 59 (9). ASSE-14-09-35.https://www.onepetro.org/journal-paper/ASSE-14-09-35.

Muir, J., Reidinger, R., and Chan, Y.M. 2002. Capturing Sustainability Issues in the Oil and Gas Industry. Presented at the SPE International Conference on Health, Safety and Environment in Oil and Gas Exploration and Production, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 20-22 March. SPE-73971-MS.http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/73971-MS.

Ristau, C.A. and Knight, B. 2008. Sustainable Development - End Game Is Good Governance. Presented at the SPE International Conference on Health, Safety, and Environment in Oil and Gas Exploration and Production, Nice, France, 15-17 April. SPE-111804-MS.http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/111804-MS.

Sherman, R.J. 2008. Sustainable Development and Change Management. Presented at the SPE International Conference on Health, Safety, and Environment in Oil and Gas Exploration and Production, Nice, France, 15-17 April. SPE-111880-MS. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/111880-MS.

Shields, D., Verga, F., and Blengini, G.A. 2013. Sustainability Versus Sustainable Development: The Case of Shale Gas. Presented at the EAGE Annual Conference & Exhibition incorporating SPE Europec, London, 10-13 June. SPE-164822-MS. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/164822-MS.

Smith, A.L. 1998. Integrated Risk Management: The Millennium Key to Sustainable Development. J Pet Technol 50 (9): 73 - 81. SPE-51006-JPT.http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/51006-JPT.

Tompkins, W. 1998. An Integrated Approach Towards Sustainable Development. J Can Pet Technol 37 (11). PETSOC-98-11-GE.http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/98-11-GE.

Wilcoxon, B.R. and Cramer, D.F. 2002. Strategic Sustainability Integration: The Next Step in the Journey. Presented at the SPE International Petroleum Conference and Exhibition in Mexico, Villahermosa, Mexico, 10-12 February. SPE-74409-MS. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/74409-MS.

Wolff, R., Zaring, O., Furuholt, E. et al. 2000. Indicators for Sustainable Development. Presented at the SPE International Conference on Health, Safety and Environment in Oil and Gas Exploration and Production, Stavanger, Norway, 26-28 June. SPE-61320-MS.http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/61320-MS.

Online multimedia

Castellanos, Ilse. 2013. Sustainable Development – Local Stakeholder Engagement – A Practitioner’s Perspective. https://webevents.spe.org/products/sustainable-developmentlocal-stakeholder-engagementa-practitioners-perspective

Cheney, Libby, Charles Curlee, and Brian Sullivan. 2013. Overview of Sustainable Development Trends. https://webevents.spe.org/products/overview-of-sustainable-development-trends

Hollas, David, Carmen Santamaria, and Melanie Brooke-Lander. 2013. A Sustainability Perspective on the Real-World Environmental Impacts, Solutions and Best Practices across the Stages of the E&P Lifecycle – from Seismic Acquisition to Abandonment. https://webevents.spe.org/products/a-sustainability-perspective-on-the-real-world-environmental-impacts-solutions-and-best-practices-across-the-stages-of-the-ep-lifecyclefrom-seismic-acquisition-to-abandonment

External links

Lefsrud, Lianne M. 2011. Sustainability Success: How Are You Meeting the Challenge? The OGM (in press; published 20 June 2011).http://theogm.com/2011/06/20/sustainability-success-how-are-you-meeting-the-challenge/

Arscott, Lynn. 2004. Sustainable Development in the Oil and Gas Industry. J Energy Resour Technol 126 (1): 1-5.http://dx.doi.org/10.1115/1.1653768

Pies, Ingo, von Winning, Alexandra, Sardison, Markus, and Girlich, Katrin. 2010. Sustainability in the Petroleum Industry: Theory and Practice of Voluntary Self-Committments. http://wcms.uzi.uni-halle.de/download.php?down=14466&elem=2278964

IPIECA. 2009. Biofuels, sustainability, and the petroleum industry. http://www.ipieca.org/publication/biofuels-sustainability-and-petroleum-industry

Bradbrook, Adrian J. and Ottinger, Richard L. ed. 2003. Energy Law and Sustainable Development.http://www.ugandaoilandgas.com/linked/sustainable%20development%20in%20the%20petroleum%20sector.pdf

Turek, Michael. 2013. Sustainable Development and Oil and Gas Industry. http://youngpetro.org/2013/12/30/sustainable-development-and-oil-and-gas-industry/

Krupnick, Alan J. and Kopp, Raymond J. 2014. Attaining Sustainable Development of Oil and Gas in North America: A Review of the Environmental Regulatory Landscape. http://www.goldmansachs.com/our-thinking/our-conferences/north-american-energy-summit/reports/rff-attaining-sustainable-development.pdf

IPIECA. 2013. Sustainability Reporting. http://www.ipieca.org/focus-area/reporting

Al Khalifa, Abdul Jaleel. 2011. Sustainable Development in the Petroleum Industry.http://www.dragonoil.com/media/29384/JaleelAlKhalifaSustainableDevelopmentInPetroleumIndustry18Apri11.pdf

United Nations. Sustainable Development. http://www.un.org/en/ga/president/65/issues/sustdev.shtml

Environmental Protection Agency. Sustainability Primer. http://epa.gov/ncer/rfa/forms/sustainability_primer_v7.pdf

Kates, Robert W., Parris, Thomas M., and Leiserowitz, Anthony A. 2005. What is Sustainable Development?http://www.hks.harvard.edu/sustsci/ists/docs/whatisSD_env_kates_0504.pdf

See also

HSE