2020
This will be the year for sustainability. The question is
how can we change an unsustainable industry like ours into a sustainable one? When
we look at the drastic plans of governments demanding us to be hydrocarbon free
within 10 years from now, we must work together to phase out the transport,
storage and use of hydrocarbon based products and replace them with non toxic,
non CO2 emitting substances. When we look closely we all know that our storage
and transport industry is unsustainable in its current form for the long term.
But how can storage terminals which depend on the storage and distribution of
oil, gas and chemicals survive when its business model will be rendered
obsolete within 10 years? There is a saying which I find very appropriate: ‘You
can’t have your cake and eat it too’. This means that we have to make a choice
and ask ourselves in which direction will our industry be heading? If we can’t
ship, store or pump environmentally harmful products any longer, we have to
start phasing them out and replace them non harmful ones. From history we can
learn that centrally planned goals such as no emissions or the United Sustainable
Development Goals (UNSDG’s) won’t be achieved, because they do not allow real
time correction, or adaptation. We have seen this for example with the
Millennium Goals 20 years ago.
Fact is that a young generation is on the barricades. The
expectation is that they will buy, use and burn less toxic products, drive
electric or hydrogen or solar powered cars. They will not buy plastic products anymore
which end up in rivers, seas and oceans. The question you and me have to ask
ourselves is; what is our plan? I believe that a sustainability thinktank, for
example ‘sustainable storage’ needs to be formed, to research new ways and new
applications for our industry. A couple of years ago I suggested that our
terminals could be converted into drinking water storage facilities. The availability
of clean, fresh, potable water is a global problem. Let’s think about this for
a moment. Water can become the next commodity. Entire countries in Africa and
Asia now depend on bottled water. They don’t have a drinking water supply
network in cities and villages. Water is needed to grow crops, improve health
or sanitation. To ensure water is available for everyone, a price can be asked
to store, distribute and provide it, because the ability of the governments and
people to pay for that service increases. This is just one idea, but we have to
start thinking very hard. In physics we talk about a ‘wicked’ problem and that
is why TTT offers a sustainability training course for tank terminals and
refineries where one can learn how to solve such complex problems. So as I
always tell my students: ‘a wise man comes prepared’. See you at StocExpo in
Rotterdam where we will discuss Sustainability for Tank Storage Industry at the
conference.
