Sustainable Metrics ...

SUSTAINABILITYMETRICS  -  TO BE DEVELOPED FOR PROCESS INDUSTRIES, APPROPRIATE FORINDIAN INDUSTRIES

S U S T A I N A B L E  D E V E L O P M E N T

PR O G R E S S  M E T R I C S

Recommended for use in the Process Industries

SUMMARY

For industry to guide its activities towards greater sustainability, more engineers need to have the tools to assess the operations with which they are concerned.There is therefore need to introduce a set of indicators that can be used to measure the sustainability performance of an operating unit. These metrics will help engineers address the issue of sustainable development. They will also enable companies to set targets and develop standards for internal benchmarking, and to monitor progress year-on-year.

Sustainable Development Progress Metrics has to be produced by the Sustainable Development society

IN T R O D U C T I O N

All the learned society representing chemical engineers worldwide, sees sustainable development as the most significant issue facing society today. The approach to sustainable development is encapsulated in the London Communiqué of 1997 (a statement signed by the leaders of 18 chemical engineering societies through out the world): "We will work to make the world a better place for future generations" and to "provide the processes and products which will give the people of the world shelter, clothing, food and drink, and which keep them in good health".

These societies has thus been working, with other bodies, to encourage progress to a more sustainable world through the activities of its members and the organizations for which they work. The laws of conservation of mass and energy are basic principles utilized by engineers. However the results of manipulating the resources of the planet through these principles have consequences for the entire global eco-system. Engineering for sustainable development means providing for human needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

It is clear that we have to be less profligate in our use of non-renewable resources if the planet is to be fit for future generations to live on. We must also be more aware of the consequences of our activities for society at large.

The process industries have made significant progress over the last decade, particularly in improving their efficiency of production and their environmental performance, and the learned societies have lent support to this improvement. However, moving towards the goal of  sustainability requires us also to examine and improve other aspects that have not traditionally been given much attention, at least by practicing engineers.

Broadly,the impact of industry can be summarized in the "triple bottom line", covering the three components of sustainable development which are environmental responsibility, economic return (wealth creation), and social development.

Many companies now recognize and monitor these three parallel strands, using their assessment to guide their product, process and personnel development and to secure their position in the rapidly changing climate of environmental legislation and stakeholder concerns.

The learned societies would like to encourage more companies to follow this lead, which requires more engineers to have the tools to assess the sustainability of operations with which they are concerned.

There is a need therefore to introduce a set of indicators that can be used to measure sustainability performance of an operating unit. If comparable statistics are gathered from a number of operations, they can be aggregated to present a view of a larger operation, on a company, industry or regional basis for example. The operating unit envisaged is a process plant, a group of plants, part of a supply chain, a whole supply chain, a utility or other process system.

I believe that these metrics will help engineers address the issue of sustainable development, and learn about the broader impact of company operations. They will also enable companies to set targets and develop standards for internal benchmarking, and to monitor progress year-on-year. I shall welcome your comments on these metrics, which we hope to develop in the light of experience with their use.

3.T H E - M E T R I C S

The metrics are presented in the three groups

3.1 Environmental indicators

3.2 Economic indicators

3.3 Social indicators which reflect the three components of sustainable development.

Not all the metrics we suggest will be applicable to every operating unit. For some units other metrics will be more relevant and respondents should be prepared to devise and report their own tailored metrics. Choosing relevant metrics is a task for the respondent. Nevertheless, to give a balanced view of sustainability performance, there must be key indicators in each of the three areas (environmental, economic, social).

Most products with which the process industries are concerned will pass through manyhands in the chain resource extraction – transport – manufacture –distribution – sale – utilization – disposal – recycling – final disposal. Suppliers, customers and contractors all contribute to this chain, so in reporting the metrics it is important that the respondent makes it clear where the boundaries have been drawn.

As with all benchmarking exercises, a company will receive most benefit from thesedata if they are collected for a number of operating units, over a number of years, on a consistent basis. This will give an indication of trends, and the effect of implementing policies.

A note on ratio indicators

Most of the progress metrics are calculated in the form of appropriate ratios. Ratio indicators can be chosen to provide a measure of impact independent of the scale of operation, or to weigh cost against benefit, and in some cases they can allow comparison between different operations.

For example, in the environmental area, the unit of environmental impact per unit of product or service value is a good measure of eco-efficiency. The preferred unit of product or service value is the value added and this is the scaling factor generally used in this report. However, the value added can sometimes be difficult to estimate accurately, so surrogate measures such as net sales,profit, or even mass of product may be used. Alternatively, a measure of value might be the worth of the service provided, such as the value of personal mobility, the value of improved hygiene, health or comfort. But a well-founded and consistent method of estimating these `values' must be presented.

3.1 Environmental indicators

These metrics should give a balanced view of the environmental impact of inputs –resource usage, and outputs –

emissions,effluents and waste and the products and services produced.

3.1.1 Resource usage

(a)Energy

The Energy Value is multiplied by the Conversion factor to give the Primary Energy Value.It thus corrects for the efficiency of generation and supply of the secondary energy source, to yield comparable figures for the primary energy  usage rate. The Conversion factors are available from the suppliers of the energy and will vary from provider to provider.

Total Net Primary Energy Usage rate = Imports – Exports GJ/y

Percentage Total Net Primary Energy sourced from renewables %

TotalNet Primary Energy Usage per kg product kJ/kg

Total Net Primary Energy Usage per unit value added kJ/£

Electricity kJ a) kJ

Fuel Oil kJ/kg 1 kJ/kg

Gas kJ/kg 1 kJ/kg

Coal kJ/kg 1 kJ/kg

Steam kJ/kg a) kJ/kg

Other(specify) kJ/kg a) kJ/kg

Total

Energy Value         Conversion     Primary Energy           Quantity used/y              Usage rate GJ/y

                                      factor                    Value