Download Sustainability Issues in the Oil and Gas Sector of

Dr Uwem E. Ite

Sustainability and its Dimensions

Environmental Sustainability and Requirements

Overview of the Extractive Industry

Extractive Industry and Climate Change

Climate Change Mitigation: Opportunities and
Options

Conclusion

Originated from environmental movement and
alarmist ideas of ultimate limits to economic
growth and development.

Several debates on precise definition, and
different contexts of interpretation.

Concerned with welfare of future generations.

Consensus on key requirements to achieve
sustainability
 Economic
 Social
 Environmental

Focuses on maintaining the long-term integrity
and productivity of environmental
infrastructure.

Natural capital as sources and sinks.

Key requirements of environmental
sustainability:
 Sustainable resource use,
 Sink functions,
 Management of natural capital,
 Precautionary principle,
 Institutional framework.
Mining
Iron and Steel
Cement
Chemicals
Aluminium
Paper and pulp
Cement
Oil and gas

Sustainability of extractive industry is
sometimes questionable.

Environmental issues are only part of the
sustainability equation

Key features of extractive industry:
 Little or no flexibility on site or location.
 Generates large quantities of wastes - with
potential to damage the environment.
 Long life span of certain environmental
impacts.
 High risk business - sometimes with little
economic benefits to help compensate for
environmental damage.

Extractive industry accounts for about 30% of total
global GHG emissions.

Total GHG emission from industry almost doubled
between 1970 and 2010.

Global demand for industrial products likely to
increase by 45%-60% by 2050 relative to 2010
production levels.

Wide ranging impacts of climate change, including:
 Natural resource availability
 Transport infrastructure
 Water scarcity
 Labour

Two major opportunities with specific options:
 Production-related strategies i.e. improvements
in industrial process efficiencies.
 Demand-related strategies i.e. reduction in
overall use of product material.

Emission Efficiency – Reducing
emission per unit of energy
used.

Energy Efficiency – Improving
the ratio of energy consumption
to production of materials.

Material Efficiency – Reducing
the amount of raw material
needed to create a product.

Product-service Efficiency
– Using a product for
longer and more intensely.

Demand Reduction – Reducing
overall demand for new
product materials, by
changing consumption
patterns.

Approved and registered by the United Nations
Executive Board for Climate Change as a Clean
Development Mechanism (CDM) project

First registered energy efficiency project on
power generation in Nigeria

Project is a 650 MW grid connected CCGT fuelled by
natural gas.

An energy efficiency project demonstrating
environmental sustainability through the reduction
of GHG emissions from power generation.

Potential to save over 500,000 tonnes of CO2

Reduction in GHG emissions requires
implementation of a broad range of mitigation
strategies.

Need for changes in policies that could lead to a
reduction in CO2 levels:
 Fuel switch (e.g. from coal to gas) to slow down
rate of CO2 accumulation
 Effective and meaningful pricing on CO2
emissions
 Support for all lower carbon technologies
including carbon capture and storage and
renewables

Cost of inaction will exceed cost of taking early
action.