Environmental Impact of Crude Oil and Sustainable Business Development - Example

Sustainable Business Development Contents Contents 2 Introduction 2 Discussion 4 Literature Review 4 Analysis of the environmental impacts of the product 7 Discuss how the environmental impacts can be mitigated 9 Conclusion 12 References 14 Introduction In this study, environmental implications of a product or service would be outlined. Sustainable business practices are a key area of focus for many companies. There are innovative practices adopted by firms so as to ensure sustainability for longer period of time. Green business or sustainable business has minimum environmental impact. An organization implements effective measures in order to address triple bottom line measures. Green business needs to address various criteria’s such as sustainability principles, manufacturing environmental friendly products and services for target market, focusing on green objectives rather than traditional business competition, and enforcing strong commitment towards environmental policies. Any business is stated as a sustainable business when it utilizes resources without affecting demand of future generation. Environmental concerns should be taken into consideration along with securing desirable profit margins. The major objective of an organization is to retain market share and this can be accomplished through minimizing impact on environment. On basis of sustainable business present needs are fulfilled efficiently without causing any impact on future generation in context of meeting their respective needs. In present scenario, companies often aim for renewable resources since it enables them to address current market demand. Sustainability comprises of three important aspects like planet, profit and people. Sustainable business development has positive impact on different areas – society, environment and business growth. This approach helps in creating value for environment, investors and customers. Organizations are being transformed into sustainable business because it has ability to effectively address customer needs along with causing less environmental impact. Environmental implications are closely knitted with consumption and production of goods or services. In manufacturing activities, environmental impact is a common phenomenon. This in turn requires implementation of sustainable business practices. The entire study will be based on a thorough analysis conducted on environmental impact caused by fuel production. Crude oil production has disastrous impact on environment and can be mitigated only with the support of advanced technology. This study encompasses theoretical frameworks on sustainable development, environmental impact analysis and wide array of mitigation procedures. Discussion Literature Review According to the author Hopwood, Mellor and OBrien sustainable development means the process of gaining sustainability by using different types of resources. The concept of sustainable development involves in human and economic development in developed society. In this process different principles are established and implemented for sustaining various finite resources. It will help to satisfy different needs of future generations. This development process forms a balance between stability, beauty and integrity of natural system. According to the authors, concept of sustainable development became a global issue in 92 “Earth Summit”. From that time this development process became an important topic in the modern society. Now a day different goals and factors are related to sustainable development process. The major goal of this development process is to provide an alternative way for humanity which prevents people and businesses from doing mistakes. Three important pillars of this development process are society, economy and environment. There are many other factors which influence the process of this development. There are different approaches to achieve sustainable development. This development plays a vital role in business. The authors’ state that corporate sustainably is a major issue for businesses in the modern world. In this process the firm uses it’s capital and different other resources efficiently to gain various advantages. For gaining advantages of sustainable development the businesses have to implement strategies for developing and protecting environment. It helps the organizations to develop its competitive advantage strategies by satisfying human needs and reducing negative impacts on environment. According to the authors sustainable business is also known as green business. This type of business aims to improve local environment, society, community or economy. Sustainable business produces products and services which are environment friendly. Its business operations are designed to provide environment and society various benefits. Business decisions of sustainable business incorporate various issues of sustainability (Hopwood, Mellor and OBrien, 2005). As per the authors Dyllick and Hockerts sustainability has a strong relationship with consumption and economic growth of the country. The business of a company is impacted by its employee, consumers, society, surrounding environment etc. Protecting environment and different natural resources help the company to gain various advantages. Sustainability is positively related with economic growth. The consumers are more interested to use eco friendly goods and services. Governments have also made various rules and regulations regarding protect natural resources and utilizing them in an efficient ways. Companies have to follows these business rules and regulations for performing its business activities. By implementing sustainable policies organizations implements various practices which provide benefits to its staffs and different other resources. As a result the company gets various advantages which help it to regenerate more revenue by satisfying its employees and customers (Dyllick and Hockerts, 2002). According to the authors Daily and Huang for achieving sustainability various measures are incorporated. These methods used in an efficient way for achieving sustainability. Some of the important methods are using renewable resources, alternative ways of generating energy etc. Companies use different products or manufacture various products which can cause harm to the society or environment. Therefore new methods and efficient ways are selected by businesses for protecting environment. By implementing efficient ways the businesses are able to establish many new measures and methods for enhancing its business process to increase business sustainability. The author states that governments have put many restrictions on the uses on non renewable resources. Over utilization of these resources causes harm to society. Therefore various efficient ways are introduced by governments and businesses in generating energy from renewable resources. As per the authors different environmental impact affects product and services of businesses. Usages of many products have been restricted for its negative impact on natural resources and on environment. According to the environment consumer purchases goods and services. Business environment plays a vital role in manufacturing product and service. Life cycle assessment helps to measure environmental impact on product and services. This assessment process evaluates different inventories which are used by companies. Impacts of input and output of different businesses on environment are analysed with this model. Life cycle assessment model focuses on raw materials, production, maintenance and managing waste products. The authors state that this system establishes various boundaries in each stage of the business process. Upstream and downstream inputs of energy are analysed and evaluated in this process. It is a time consuming process which focuses on environmental emissions. For implementing this model some particular goals are set which act as purpose on Life cycle assessment. According to the raw material impact on environment, improvement analysis is done. This analysis helps to find out various opportunities which can be used as an alternative way to reduce negative effects on environment. Therefore Life cycle model not only assess but also reduce environmental burdens. It evaluates the entire process of business starting from product manufacturing to its final disposal (Daily and Huang, 2001). Analysis of the environmental impacts of the product In modern society, oil plays a vital role. There are large quantities of oil being manufactured in daily scenario and this causes negative impact on external environment. It is one of the essential energy sources which are utilized by human beings. Potential hazards are caused by oil production on environment. Their impact usually varies from one level to another. Its impact is mainly observed on water, living beings, air and soil. Pollution can be regarded as the most hazardous environmental impact caused by oil production and consumption. This impact is directly linked with refining, exploratory activities, etc. Production, refining and drilling is solely responsible for creating disastrous environmental impact like wastewaters, aerosols, gas emissions and solid waste. This form of drilling or refining activities is majorly associated with production of crude oil. Aquatic environment is largely dependent on water quality. This quality level is greatly affected through production of crude oil. Toxic pollutants produced during crude oil manufacturing are discharged into nearby water bodies. This in turn creates long term impact on aquatic environment. When oil is introduced directly in the environment it causes damage to living organisms. Welfare of living species are highly endangered due to oil spills in water bodies. Oil spills causes wide array of biological and chemical changes like water-soluble fractions dissolution, emulsification, high volatile fraction evaporation, sedimentation, photochemical oxidation and microbial degradation. Oil transportation or production has a phenomenal impact on human beings. Production pollution, oil spills and oil waste dumping threatens habitat of wildlife. Environmental damage and negative impacts on human life are common issues associated with oil production and retraction. Water contamination is stated as one of the major environmental damage caused by oil production. Saline pollution results due to crude oil manufacturing process. There is water effluents composed of inorganic salts which are discharged into water bodies without treating it well. Oil production takes place at high temperatures and this in turn causes thermal pollution. At the refining and production plants there are particulate emissions which are discharged into the atmosphere. This considerably affects climatic conditions and contributes towards global warming. There is some harmful gas emissions closely knitted with oil production and refining process. These emissions are of ammonia, fluorine compounds, and acid mist, nitrogen and sulphur oxides. Alkaline materials and other solvents are also discharged into water bodies during crude oil production process. Soil contamination is another environmental impact linked with oil production. Chemical industry is held responsible for discharging particulate matter and treatment sludge into the atmosphere. Solid waste produced in chemical industry tends to contaminate groundwater, soil, or surface water. Groundwater contamination in turn exploits living organisms present in soil. Oil production causes negative impact in the form of accidents. These accidents usually take place through fires, oil spills, plant explosion, leaks, etc. It can be stated that noise pollution also results from oil manufacturing process. Loud noise is created through operations and equipments undertaken during production mechanism. In the recent scenario oil consumption rate has surpassed the rate of oil production. This in turn requires production of large volumes of crude oil which can effectively address current market demand. Product life cycle denotes the time period until which it does needs to be replenished (Wells, 2013). In overall context, crude oil possesses a short life cycle and this demands for its rapid replenishment. Since consumption rate of crude oil is high it causes drastic environmental impact. Firstly air pollution is major environmental impact caused by crude oil consumption. Huge amount of harmful gases are discharged into atmosphere when crude oil is been consumed. It is refined and used for vehicles which form a major source for air pollution. In present scenario all individuals are inclined towards using vehicles and this in turn leads to increased rate of air pollution. Apart from discharge of air pollutants there are also chemicals discharged during crude oil consumption stage. Air pollution encompasses major components such as harmful gases and chemicals. These components not only affect environmental conditions but even disrupt biological balance. Living beings are greatly affected by atmospheric conditions in terms of inhaling harmful gases. It even disrupts respiratory system of an individual. Air pollution is also accompanied by noise pollution since oil consumption generates loud level noise. The intensity of noise pollution is increasing in recent years due to increased oil consumption (Philp, 2012). Increased noise pollution tends to affect natural habitat of many living beings. Harmful air pollutants along with loud noise disrupts habitat of living organisms. Amongst all the environmental impacts, water contamination, air pollution and noise pollution can be stated as major issues. These issues are directly associated with external environment and it needs to be mitigated appropriately. It has been witnessed that such pollutants are closely knitted with basic functions of oil production and consumption. Noise pollution is usually produced during oil retraction and is one of the basic outcomes during oil consumption. Similarly harmful gases are discharged during production and consumption of this product which considerably enhances the level of global warming. Disposal of harmful substances is a common phenomenon in oil production and it is degrading water quality in various regions. Discuss how the environmental impacts can be mitigated Environmental impacts can be mitigated through various measures based on advanced technology. Crude oil production and consumption causes drastic impact on the environment. These impacts can be mitigated by working in collaboration with various actor groups. In this case, there would be two important actor groups who can help in implementing mitigation techniques. Business and consumer is basically regarded as the actor groups to be involved in addressing wide array of environmental impacts. It can be stated that consumers play a critical role behind increased rate of oil consumption. Customers should be educated in terms of reducing usage of crude oil in their daily consumption routine. They need to be provided with renewable energy sources which can serve as a basic energy source. Business should work in collaboration with crude oil manufacturers in order to incorporate best quality standards. Renewable energy source needs to be a basic component in crude oil production. Corporate social responsibility is major aspect for all business organizations. This factor should be enhanced and utilized as a mitigation procedure. Technological advancements shall be encouraged by business and this would facilitate environmental impact reduction. There are certain measures which can be implemented so as to reduce overall environmental impact. Infiltration procedure in crude oil production should not lead to discharge of harmful substances in wastewaters. In certain locations this technique has already been implemented in order to eliminate waste water contamination. There are different measures through which water effluents can be treated efficiently. They can be treated by aeration, neutralization, grease and oil separation, evaporation, carbon adsorption, flocculation, bio treating, ion exchange, etc. All these measures are applied depending on the level of contaminants. On the other hand, particulate emission can also be regulated through incorporating electrostatic precipitators, cyclones, scrubbers, bag filters, etc (Estes, 2009). Nitrogen and sulphur oxides are usually treated as harmful acidic emission associated with crude oil production. These acidic emissions can be efficiently dealt through utilizing wet scrubbers. Occasional oil leaks which results into disastrous accidents can be prevented through proper maintenance of storage areas and equipments. Emergency response plan is followed in many regions that encompasses large base of crude oil production. This plan helps to save human beings in crisis situations. Waste discharge is usually high during production mechanism and it can be treated well through controlled landfill disposal, encapsulation, incineration, cement kilns burning, chemical immobilization, etc. To some extent controlled landfill disposal is a technique followed in many areas. This is implemented to control waste discharge and eliminate soil contamination. On the other hand, impacts caused due to consumption can be eliminated through using energy efficient devices or investing required amount in electric cars. Crude oil consumption needs to be controlled so as to ensure there is less impact on environment. Technological innovation is an essential component in order to promote sustainability in production or consumption of this product. This aspect can be utilized in the form of introducing measures to prevent discharge of harmful substances into the atmosphere. Technology can also be utilized in terms of regulating supply as per demand in the market place. However technology should be firstly used in context of reducing air pollution or noise pollution. Innovation can transform crude oil into a sustainable product since it would enable elimination of all harmful substances from the product. Crude oil is an essential factor in modern world as it is a major source for energy. Crude oil is a one off the important natural resource of the world. Various kinds of products and by-products are generated from crude oil. All of these products of crude oil have various advantages and disadvantages on environment. To reduce various negative impacts of crude oil and to increase its efficiency the companies can use various advanced technologies to improve by-products of crude oil. Innovation and using of electric cars and vehicles will helps to reduce the use of crude oil. Reduction to demand will lead to reduce the use of crude oil. Uses of crude oil can become more efficient by improving the extraction process of crude oil. Inefficient use of crude oil will have many rebound effect on environment and nature. If crude oil is not used in an inefficient way then by-products of crude oil can damage the environment in such a way that future generation will face many major problems for this. Different types of pollutions are creates by this oil. If these pollutions are not managed properly then it will become a threat to environment. These regulatory measures will be helpful to the society and environment. It will help to promote sustainable development in the society. There is a need to reduce the usage of crude oil. This is because crude oil is a non renewable resource. Excessive use of crude oil will damage the balance of nature. Future generation will be negatively impacted for this reason. Moreover, crude oil creates a huge amount of pollution in the environment. Its different by-products pollute the environment in various ways. Increasing use of crude oil leads to increase pollution level. These establish negative impacts on various environmental factors. Therefore reduction of crude oil usage is highly recommended. It will help to save many natural other natural resources and living beings. Some of the important alternative options of crude oil are natural gas, electricity and different renewable resources. Petroleum is a by-product of crude oil which is highly used in different types of vehicles. Natural gas or electricity can be used as an alternative to petroleum. These alternatives cause less pollution and damage to environment. By-products of crude oil are also used for energy generation. So instead of this water can be used for generating energy. Conclusion In this case study environmental impact of crude oil and sustainable business practices are highlighted. Companies’ performs various practices which are designed to achieve sustainable advantage. Organizations aim to achieve overall development. For this reason sustainable development is highly required. In the modern world environment has become an important factor. Therefore the companies take business decisions which will provide sustainability in their business. Protecting environment from different damages is a vital responsibility for the organizations. Product and service are designed according to that. The concept of green business has developed for this reason. This type of business focuses more on green objectives. They design their policies for benefiting and protecting environment. For having sustainable development the companies uses its resources efficiently by creating minimum negative impact on environment. Various environmental concerns are taken into considerations before implementing business plans. This case study explains that crude oil is an important natural non renewable resource. It has several advantages and disadvantages. Crude oil is being used for a long period of time. As a result extensive use of crude oil has created many negative impacts on environment. Various types of pollution have increased for this reason. Pollution has a large number of hazardous effects on environment. Crude oil and its by-products have polluted soil, water, air etc. Extraction and consumption process of crude oil establishes negative impact on sustainable development of country and company. Therefore by reducing the usage of crude oil is an important way to deal with all these problems. Alternative resources can be used for reducing negative impacts of crude oil on environment. Electricity, gas, water etc can be used as alternative resources of crude oil. These things have less impact on environment. Reduction of crude oil demand will also help to protect and develop the environment. References Daily, B. F. and Huang, S. C., 2001. Achieving sustainability through attention to human resource factors in environmental management. International Journal of Operations & Production Management. 21(12). pp. 1539-1552. Dyllick, T. and Hockerts, K., 2002. Beyond the business case for corporate sustainability. Business strategy and the environment. 11(2). pp. 130-141. Estes, J., 2009. Smart green: how to implement sustainable business practices in any industry - and make money. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Hopwood, B., Mellor, M., and OBrien, G., 2005. Sustainable development: mapping different approaches. Sustainable development. 13(1). pp.38-52. Philp, R. B., 2012. Environmental issues for the twenty-first century and their impact on human health. Canada: Bentham Science Publishers. Wells, G., 2013. Sustainable business: theory and practice of business under sustainability principles. UK: Edward Elgar Publishing. Read More