Drilling Engineering: Towards Achieving Total Sustainability - Chapter 8: Environmental sustainability

The most important theme of the new millennium is the environmental sustainability. As we grapple with the fact that unrestricted use of unsustainable technologies has created what Nobel laureate Chemist Robert Curl calls a ‘technological disaster’, there has been a renewed call to focus on environmental sustainability before economic considerations. This is a remarkable departure from centuries old focus on economy first, others next. In this chapter, the current drilling practices are evaluated against a scientific sustainability criterion and recommendations made so progresses are made toward environmental sustainability. In drilling, this is a refreshing approach. It is shown that environmental sustainability is also economically attractive as long as the holistic approach is taken. If such considerations are not made prior to drilling, the eventual cost to the industry is far greater than that considers environmental sustainability first.