What does sustainably reducing fugitive emissions mean? The definition of “sustainability”1 according to Merriam Webster:
1: capable of being sustained
2a: of, relating to, or being a method of harvesting or using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently damaged
- sustainable techniques, sustainable agriculture
2b: of or relating to a lifestyle involving the use of sustainable methods
- sustainable society
By Tim Goedeker, Consultant
In addition, in 1987, the United Nations Brundtland Commission defined sustainability as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”2
Anyone who immediately considers the reduction of greenhouse gases (GHGs), carbon dioxide (CO2), and methane (CH4) at the mention of sustainability is among the majority.
For historical context, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was adopted in 1992 as a framework for international cooperation to combat climate change. The UNFCCC creates and facilitates annual Conference of Parties (COPs) meetings focused on assessing global efforts to advance the key aims of limiting global warming. The most notable action that came from the COPs was the signing of the Paris Agreement in 2016. Global warming, now called climate change, has been a pressing subject for the last 32 years and actions have jumped into hyperdrive since the Paris Agreement was signed eight years ago. So it is not surprising that most believe sustainability is about GHGs and climate change. But there is much more to “sustainability” than climate, including nature (land), water, and biodiversity.3
The UN also hosts a convention for biodiversity, similar to the UNFCCC, called the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The CBD was created in 1992, as was the UNFCCC, during the UN Earth Summit, and the first CBD COP was in 1994. Most are unaware that the CBD exists. The Convention has three main goals: 1) the conservation of biological diversity (or biodiversity); 2) the sustainable use of its components; and 3) the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from genetic resources. The CBD’s objective is to develop national strategies based on these goals and is often seen as a key document regarding sustainable development.
An example of the lack of awareness with the CBD includes the numerous major companies that focus their “sustainable” actions on managing and mitigating carbon emissions; i.e., GHGs, but overlook the impact of those actions on nature (land), water, and biodiversity.
The UN has devoted considerable effort to identifying what a sustainable world should include. In 2012 they created 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to guide countries, businesses, and people on the journey to sustainability.4
A number of the SDGs – 6, 7, 9, 12, and 13 in particular – are useful guides for actions to sustainably reduce fugitive emissions. However, the majority of the focus around the world since, the signing of the Paris Agreement in 2016 at COP 21, has been on SDG #13, Climate Action.
How sustainable principles are implemented varies widely, with no right or wrong, or no “one size fits all” solution. However, using an integrated strategy over a siloed strategy would yield better solutions. An integrated “cradle to grave”, sustainable lens strategy – including air, water, waste, land, nature/biodiversity – would deliver different and better solutions than what is in place today. Currently, sustainable “solutions” are evaluated through a single climate lens, not all of the environment, and not using a lifecycle analysis.5
What Does This Mean for Sustainably Reducing Fugitive Emissions for a Safer and Greener Tomorrow?
By reducing/eliminating fugitive emissions from valves and pipe connections, both health and safety risks are decreased on-site, along with the environmental impact of the process leak on our climate. Ensuring low or no fugitive emissions eliminates the “wasting” of everything that went into creating the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that leaked – from the valuable flow media to the energy added within the process.
Ensuring All Aspects of Fugitive Emission Solutions Are Sustainable
There are very good solutions on the market today that arrest fugitive VOC emissions to well under 100 ppm, but the question remains whether these solutions are being produced with the least amount of impact to the environment and the earth.
What to consider:
Water
- How much water is used in the production of the solutions?
- What can be done to reduce the freshwater use footprint?
- Can the amount of freshwater be reduced via recycling or can other types of water – rainwater, treated wastewater – be used instead of freshwater?
Waste (liquid and solid)
- How much waste is generated in the production of the solutions?
- What can be done to reduce the footprint of waste generated?
- Can packaging be reduced to avoid excess waste?
Land (nature)
- How is nature (land primarily) impacted by the production of the solutions?
- If fugitive emission solutions use minerals from the earth, are there other minerals mined and recovered that could be used to produce an equivalent product with less impact on nature, i.e., less invasive mining or mineral capture processes.
Supply Chain (feedstocks, transportation of feedstocks to the plant, transportation of the finished product to customers)
- Ask about the impact to water, waste, nature, and air/climate for each element in the supply chain: Where do the feedstocks come from?
- How are they delivered to the facility/operations?
- How will the products be delivered to customers?
- What waste is generated by customers in the use of their seller’s products?
Sustainability is not just the use and care of air, but also the use of water, the disposal of wastewater, the creation of waste (primarily solid, but could include liquids), and use/care of nature and biodiversity. Sustainability awareness has been underway for nearly three decades and in hyperdrive for the last decade, focusing on greenhouse gases. The world needs to pivot and address water, waste, and nature/biodiversity at the same time the world addresses air. If not, the perpetual environmental crisis will continue well beyond the 2050 climate “net zero” date and into the end of this century.
The goal is sealing fugitive emissions for a safer and greener tomorrow. A proactive PVF and/or sealing manufacturer with increasingly efficient, reliable, and responsible processes should be constantly looking for ways to reduce their impact on the environment and the earth. Using the integrated – all of sustainability – lifecycle view when evaluating the benefit of mitigating fugitive emissions should be a consideration for all products.
References
- https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ sustainable
- https://www.un.org/en/academic-impact/ sustainability
- https://kpmg.com/xx/en/home/insights/2022/04/ introducing-the-tnfd-beta-framework.html
- https://sdgs.un.org/goals
- https://quantis.com/news/when-it-comes-tobiodiversity-businesses-are-at-a-loss/
About the Author
Tim Goedeker has nearly 40 years of petroleum refining operations, engineering and environmental compliance leadership and strategic planning experience. Prior to retiring from Phillips 66 in 2022, Tim spent his last 13 years helping improve environmental compliance across the 15 Phillips 66 refineries. He implemented programs to eliminate environmental regulatory non-compliance incidents, implemented new/revised Federal flaring rules, and implemented plans to reduce refinery emissions footprint and enhance the corporate sustainability strategy. He coordinated the implementation (including direct negotiation with EPA & DOJ) and closure planning of two multi-billion $$ environmental consent decrees with EPA covering the 14 US Phillips 66 refineries.