ENERGY SECURITY

Energy, environment and sustainable development in the Arab world

Introduction
Energy, environment and sustainable development issues are not simply related, but, by addressing them in an integrated manner, there is a better chance of understanding the dynamics and interactions as well as the possible development of win-win solutions to the relevant environmental issues.

Globally, concern over depletion of natural resources and accumulation of wastes and emissions in cities has reached the international political stage. Today, the world community has become aware that sustainable development is essential and that it rests on three pillars: economic development, social development and protection of the environment. Up until the late seventies and early eighties, environmental management in most Arab countries was approached from a public health perspective. Issues of clean air, solid and hazardous wastes emerged in 1980s and 1990s. Global environmental issues became a major concern in the 1990s with the development of Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) on protection of the ozone layer, climate change, biodiversity and desertification. However, these agreements remained as "paper laws" in the Arab world. Only in recent years and through Council of Arab Ministers Responsible for the Environment (CAMRE) the Arab Initiative for Sustainable Development (2002), Arab Declaration to the World Summit on Sustainable Development (2002), Abu Dhabi Declaration on Perspectives of Arab Environmental Action (2001) and the Declaration of the First Conference on the Environment from an Islamic Perspective (2000) that the Arab countries have started to link environmental protection to political and economic policies.

In the Arab world, the oil industry (referred henceforth as industry) led the economic and social development. Therefore, it has the social obligation to pick up the challenge of sustainable development (SD) issues and take the lead towards translating it into a working strategy. Also, this view on social responsibility of the industry is shared by the international business community. The industry is coming into contact with some of the world’s most challenging issues. These challenges oblige the industry to act, as well as to look for opportunities to channel its energies into business activities that address these challenges and contribute to human progress. Over 180 global major companies (representing over $5.5 trillion dollars) have joined into a global alliance to achieve sustainable development (World Business Council for Sustainable Development-WBCSD). Figure 1 summarizes the WBCSD model on linking global business with global issues.

Addressing the issues: possible win-win approaches?
Showing global stewardship by addressing climate change issues and meeting the Kyoto Protocol targets (i.e. reaching at least 5% reduction in total GHGs emission by 2008, by the industrialized countries) put great pressure on the industry, in not only carrying out emission inventories, but, actually developing mitigation measure. Development of carbon sinks has been a challenge to the industry and a long standing demand from environmental agencies and civil society groups.

This paper presents a brief summary on three options of carbon sequestration, one based on the expertise of petroleum engineers and geologists and other two are biological approaches.

CO2 Removal Engineering Technologies

• Capture, removal and storage of CO2 from gas or coal fired power plant: CO2, the main component of the flow gas is separated and piped to deep saline aquifers, abandoned gas/oil field or coal seams. It can be applied to power stations directly where the flue gases go through a separation phase (for CO2 by Amine-scribing by materials such as mono ethyl amine-MEA or a physical scrubbing material such as Selexol, leaving nitrogen and water, which may also be recovered). CO2 is then compressed and stored. The stored CO2 can be re-injected into the coal mine, into the deep rock formations or into the ocean (at depths exceeding 800 meters where the pressure is enough to keep it in the liquid phase).
• The above process can also be applied before combustion (pre-combustion decarbonisation), this technology is based on producing "synthesis gas" which is a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, produced by partial oxidation of natural gas coal, oil or biomass or gasification of coal. CO2 is separated from the mixture and removed for storage. Hydrogen-rich fuel is then used for power with reduced CO2 emissions.
• Removal of CO2 associated with gas/oil production and re-injection into saline aquifer in the ocean or into abandoned reservoirs has also been experimented with, mainly by the Norwegians in the North Sea.
• The captured CO2 is also used to enhance oil production, by decreasing viscosity through injection into the oil fields. This further reduces the cost of CO2 removal and provides an economic incentive. Figure 2 (a to e) below illustrate various CO2 capture options being applied.

Carbon Removal by Enhanced Marine Photosynthesis
Enhancement of CO2 by chemical and or biological methods has always been an attractive alternative, however natural ecosystems operate on a delicate balance which can be easily disturbed. See Figure 3. The ocean can remove between 30-50% of fossil fuels carbon in the atmosphere. For example, in theory the ocean can hold increased biological productivity through photosynthesis but we should note that only 5% of CO2 available comes directly from the atmosphere and thus removal would be limited. Increasing photosynthesis by algae at a massive scale requires adding huge amounts of iron, with potential ecological risks.

Cultivation of corals is like reintroduction of forests on land and probably cheaper. However, both have a little net CO2 uptake when they reach maturity. A chemical system for removal of CO2 is based on utilization of the solar chimney/absorber (a greenhouse base of approximately 3,600 m in diameter and 950 m in height, See Figure 4).

Carbon removal by Enhanced Terrestrial Ecosystems
It has been shown that mature forest reach equilibrium stage in terms of CO2 removal, however their conservation means less CO2 release from decay of organic matter in soil. Loss of plant cover in arid ecosystem like this region means loss of biodiversity, lesser ability to trap moisture and loss of CO2 from the soil decay. A humble plant that probably has its origins from this region has been found to have great ability to produce biomass, control soil and water erosion and stabilize soil. This third approach is less costly than deep injection of CO2 and may contribute significantly to the efforts of combating desertification. This is the re-vegetation approach. Figure 5 shows a plant that grows in many parts of the world, the best variety of which is in Southern India.

Over 100 countries are actively engaged in introducing veitver zizanoides to control water and wind erosion, road side protection, wastewater treatment. It is often introduced as a pioneer plant in the rehabilitation of damaged terrestrial and coastal ecosystems.