Abstract
Sustainable development has become crucially important globally for the sake of quality life for current and future generations while addressing the crises of climate change, pollution, loss of flora and fauna, etc. This article briefly discusses the importance of sustainability along with its evolution and global declarations made to address the same. The article briefly outlines some of the major areas of concern and the problems and solutions that advances in chemical processing can offer.
Introduction
The present times are marked by shifting global priorities at a pace not as evident as ever before. The rising energy costs and widespread discussions on environmental sustainability prevailed in 2019 which shifted after the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020. As the pandemic eased after two years, the eruption of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022 led to the prospects of the shortage of fertilizers and raised apprehensions about an upcoming food shortage. It also reinforced the necessity of attaining national self-reliance in the matter of critical inputs and products for energy and economic security. Now discussions have once again brought back climate change to centre stageandthe need to advance the earlier stipulated timeline for achieving carbon neutrality through an accelerated intervention in planning, innovation and cooperation. Amidst the ongoing war, heightened global inflation anddisruption of logistics, nations and businesses have prioritised their focus on renewable power, energy transition, decarbonization, digitization andgreen hydrogen in order to reduce the carbon intensity of existing operations and also sustain the business. India, with its contemporary socio-economic realities, can’t choose the path of the decarbonization agenda pursued by the developed West. Therefore, as the Prime Minister proclaimed at COP21, our efforts to become carbon neutral will be achieved through a systematic intervention covering all sectors of the economy for which it may need time span till 2070. The country’s manufacturing sector- of which chemical processing industries have a major share- has to substantially contribute and lead the targeted efforts towards achieving theabove environmental sustainability agenda and its action plan.
Sustainability Movement- a Brief History
The global sustainability movement, which is two decades old and which has gained currency with the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), Johannesburg in 2002 has impacted on almost all walks of life and transcended from its early focus on the reduction of environmental burden, achieving resource optimization, energy efficiency and waste elimination to a carbon-free development paradigm targeted to achieve the COP21 protocols by 2050 through a well defined progressive transition. On the industrial front, it started with the betterment of processes through innovation, development of new generation materials, catalysts and full-scale conversion, recycling and reutilisation of effluents, emissions and solid wastes. Hitherto developments have little impacted the basic tenets of agriculture, manufacturing and servicing which almost remained intact.
The new understanding is highly disruptive. With the set of programs at hand and scale of progress achieved so far, we may not meet the desired goals and extend the sustainable life of the planet earth. The new understanding is that a complete transformation is needed in several sectors of human activities especially in the industrial sector both in its manufacturing and end uses. This evolutionary understanding with regard to industry and business is well articulated in the following UN declarations.
Agenda 21 and the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, 1992 provide the fundamental framework for policy discussion and action on matters related to industry and sustainable development. Although the role of business and industry, as a major group, has specifically addressed issues related to industry and economic development, consumption and production patterns, social development and environmental protection cut across the entirety of Agenda 21.
The UNDP Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA), 2000, an international scientific assessment of the consequences of ecosystem changes for human well-being observed that “Significant reductions in net greenhouse gas emissions will require technological solutions that could include a mix of fuel switching (coal/oil to gas), increased power plant efficiency, renewables (biomass, solar, wind, run-of-the-river, and large hydropower, geothermal, and so on), and nuclear power. This portfolio would be complemented by more efficient use of energy in transportation, buildings, and industry sectors. In addition, technologies for carbon dioxide capture and sequestration pre-and post-combustion can add to the toolkit needed to address the substantial challenge of stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. While these technologies exist, they need to be improved to make them economical and environmentally friendly”
The UNIDO Lima Declaration, ‘Towards inclusive and sustainable Industrial Development’, 2013 proposed that “industrialization is a driver of development. Industry increases productivity, and job creation and generates income, thereby contributing to poverty eradication and addressing other development goals, as well as providing opportunities for social inclusion, including gender equality, empowering women and girls and creating decent employment for the youth. As the industry develops, it drives an increase of value addition and enhances the application of science, technology and innovation, therefore encouraging greater investment in skills and education, and thus providing the resources to meet broader, inclusive and sustainable development objectives.” Inclusive and sustainable industrial development has been incorporated, together with resilient infrastructure and innovation, as Sustainable Development Goal 9 in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The Addis Ababa Action Agenda ‘International Conference on Financing Development’, 2015 which provides a new global framework for financing sustainable development by aligning all financial flows and policies with economic, social and environmental prioritiesfocus on “promoting inclusive and sustainable industrialization” and on “generating full and productive employment and decent work for all and promoting micro, small andmedium-sized enterprises.
The Global Environmental Outlook -6th edition, commissioned by UNDP in 2019, is a serious study across continents to arrive at a roadmap for achieving the United Nations Agenda 2030, in which hunger and poverty are consigned to history, and where biodiversity, oceans, land and freshwater are protected and restored to health. It’s clear that achieving this requires a transformation in human lifestyles and productive activities: our industry, agriculture, buildings, transport and the energy system which powers them.
The above conventions, studies and protocols have impacted the development of modern industries such that in every step they are encouraged to pursue greener pathways in their development processes. They also support the fight against climate change through applications such as renewable energy sources, zero-carbon processing technologies, electric and high-efficiency vehicles and building materials that reduce energy consumption.
Focus on Chemical Processing
This is very much evident in the case of chemical processing industries. Modern living is impossible without the services rendered by numerous chemical products and ingredients. As chemistry provides the building blocks for nearly 96 percent of all manufactured goods, it plays an integral role in reimagining the products, technologies, resources and systems that are capable of powering a circular, sustainable economy. The fundamentals of chemical processing are built around thermodynamics and chemical kinetics as cornerstones. Even with the advanced process technologies and latest version of equipment in each of the segments of chemical processing, we are not able to achieve a full-scale conversion of raw material into desired products leaving nothing. This inefficiency of engineering systems often reflects as waste and cause burden to the physical environment. In every step of its advancement, chemical engineers are reminded of these inherent inefficiencies and research and innovation arefocussed to minimize and eliminate the same. Modern designs of plant and equipment with increased reliability, new generation catalysts with better conversion efficiencies, advanced material of construction to withstand the harshness of the operating environment, a high order of resource optimization, predictive maintenance techniques, energy efficiency, automatic rigorous plant monitoring capabilities, safety and abnormal situation management, environment monitoring and emergency planning are all outputs of the above thought and action.
Rapid industrialization and urbanization are key drivers of environmental change affecting air, water, land and biota to varying degrees. Environmental issues related to industrialization have widespread linkages, it encompasses not only the manufacturing and energy sectors but also those that arise out of application of industrial products, be it in intensive agriculture, healthcare, education or entertainment, etc. Life Cycle Analysis is a useful tool to assess the potential social, economic and environmental consequences following a cradle to grave approach in using different industrial products and materials.
The primary energy sector which currently is undergoing a cosmic transformation from petroleum and other fossil resources to renewables and hydrogen is considered as a major advancement towards sustainability in the manufacturing sector which is already in the forefront of achieving a higher order of energy efficiency in its current operations.
Air quality
Damage to air quality around industrial installations is a major problem. Despite having several legislation and protocols and its stringent administration of several industrial locations around the world, the air is polluted. Policymakers will need to target multiple pollutants and sources to address these concerns, including new and emerging sources. Source reduction, elimination of emissions and complete absorption are the available solutions which could be diligently selected and applied.
Water use and pollution
Industrial water use leads to twin problems- water scarcity and pollution from effluents. These twin issues have a direct bearing on groundwater depletion, contamination of surface water and groundwater, nutrient pollution from intensive agriculture and aquaculture, and low concentration contaminants that often escape wastewater treatment and ambient monitoring programs. Here, policy options are needed at the national level to reduce the water intensity of manufacturing and for effecting complete recycling of effluents.
Biodiversity loss
Loss of biodiversity is another fall out of industrialization arising out of demand for resources from biodiverse regions, be it mining or mineral exploration through fracking etc. Much needs to be understood with regard to the impact on neighbouring biodiversity with the large-scale use of GM crops for better productivity and profits. The social and environmental impacts of these “enhanced” species and the need for new policy responses are to be examined in detail in advancing sustainability.
Electronic waste
Mountains of electronic waste accumulated particularly around urban locations has emerged as a major environmental issue needing attention at the global level. Apart from household sources, the industry is the major sources of these types of waste. Several countries have already banned the import of E-waste. Consumer trends that demand the latest electronic products, well before the usability of older products expire, pose a serious challenge here. Though the application of the 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) may offer temporary relief, the need for technological solutions which include the recovery of precious material, metal and plastics have to turn out to become handy for future years. Moreover, the disposal of solar panels and batteries that have outlived their useful life, in abundant volumes, is becominganother major issue, for which even today we do not have benign solutions. International co-operation is needed to develop state-of-the-art treatment and disposal technologies, best management practices through research and innovation and formulate effective policies for containment of E-waste materials.
Plastics pollution
Plastics is a versatile industrial product having varied applications. A major concern is regarding pollution arising out of the production and use of plastic materials and the pervasive release of microplastics into marine and freshwater environments, inflicting toxicity to fish and other aquatic organisms and ultimatelyreaching to humans.There is widespread recognition that urgent action is required to reduce the leakage of plastics into the ocean, but there is no simple solution for the same. As an interim step we may have to explore the potential of replacing conventional plastics with alternative materials in certain applications, as part of a wider strategy of reducing marine plastic litter and microplastics. There is a clear need for environmental economists to work with agronomists, material scientists, environmental scientists and others to devise more realistic and reliable techniques for whole life cycle analysis assessment.
Bioremediation
Fertilizer and pesticide residues, discarded pharmaceuticals, antibiotics and personal care products that are being detected in the aquatic environments and drinking water, can have adverse impacts on biota and potentially on human health. The source of entry is from the manufacturing site as well as the user’s end. The excessive use of antibiotics in livestock animals and the potential transfer of antibiotic-resistant bacteria to humans is also coming up as a not-so-easy unsurmountable hurdle. Some of these pollutants bioaccumulate in the environment and ultimately reach man through various means. They are hazardous because of potential toxicity, mutagenicity, carcinogenicity, and genotoxicity. To rejuvenate nature, chemical remediation methods are currently available but there are usually expensive and might convert one toxic pollutant to another. Decontamination of soil and water from the presence of these materials through bioremediation methods using naturally occurring microorganisms to detoxify these pollutants to harmless products is the right approach in this regard. It requires a lot of R&D efforts to stabilize the process of remediation and achieve the desired decontamination.
Conclusion
Industrialisation has impacted the development of human civilization at least for the last four centuries. It has been instrumental in lifting millions of people out of poverty across the globe. But it has also damaged the ecosystems – air, water and land, natural resources and contributed to climate change. The wheel of development never stops. From the days of the primitive steam engines and spinning wheel, the transition to advanced manufacturing systems, technologies, materials and now-a-days to capabilities such as data analytics, digitization, to robots, artificial intelligence and blockchain technologies have not only revolutionized the production process but also brought forth multiple opportunities to minimize its environmental burden.
Today, the benefits of the modernization of industry are not readily available to all countries and citizens. The rich enterprises, with their investment potential, draw the advantages of mature technologies at the first instant. The vast inequality prevailing among the developing countries creates barriers to accessing the potential benefits of modernization, especially for the small- and medium-sized enterprises. In this respect international policy formulations with regard to freely sharing environment bettering technologies to developing and underdeveloped countries become relevant to the targeted achievement of the global agenda. In fact, such an inclusive effort needs equitable collaboration and support of all stakeholders – national governments, industry and business, research and innovation, technology developers and providers, and global institutions and frameworks for guidance and performance monitoring.
