LAUSR

In several Guest Editorials and earlier articles, the connection between climate change and industrial processes has been analyzed in detail. In this editorial, the connections between sustainability and industrial processes are briefly considered. First, we define the concept of sustainability. Its definition comes from biology: A process is sustainable when it is able to indefinitely produce at a pace, which does not deplete the resources used and it needs to function and does not produce more contaminants than it can be absorbed by its environment (adapted from Cavalcante). The United Nations introduced a definition of sustainable development in the well-known report entitled Our Common Future (or the Brundtland Report), published by the World Commission on Environment and Development in 1987. According to the report, sustainable development “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs” (p. 16). The modern definition is more holistic: “Sustainability is the ability to achieve sustained economic prosperity over time, while protecting the natural systems of the planet and providing a high quality of life for people.” In addition to environmental sustainability, two other pillars are economic and societal sustainability. In the first case, the proposal is to develop green economy that takes into account the natural capital (plant, animal, soil, and water resources) and the well-being of workers and indeed humanity as a whole. With respect to social sustainability, the idea is to develop fair and ethical trade, to respect clients, to give the same opportunities to all persons, and, besides other possibilities, to contribute to the improvement of society, mainly that of developing countries who are more affected by global warming. The importance of these three pillars is demonstrated by the need to present to the members of a company (shareholders, etc.) and all of society each year a triple-point balance, not only economic but also environmental and social balances. A relevant reference is the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), which provides a framework to empower sustainability in an enterprise, industry, or organization: “Sustainability reporting as promoted by GRI Standards is the practice of public reporting by organizations on their economic, environmental and social impacts.” In what follows, we will develop several criteria that need to be taken into account if sustainability is to be considered in an industrial project: . Define System boundary and flows. The system needs to be defined with care in order to include all the components, as well as energy, material, water, and communication flows. It must be pointed out that an improvement in the process will be reflected in an increase in efficiency but a decrease in intensity. These improvements normally will also produce reduction in economic costs. . Fix the ultimate objective. The way to arrive at the final fixed objective in efficiency and/or intensity (using, for example, total quality technique) must be clearly defined. . Establish continuous improvement steps in order to tend to new (and better) final objectives. . Eliminate (or at least reduce) contamination in all forms, especially greenhouse gases (GHGs) and black carbon that produce global warming. In industrial processes, this can be done mainly by replacing nonrenewable fossil fuels with renewable energy sources (e.g., solar, hydro, geothermal, biomass/biofuels, hydrogen, compressed-air). . Determine the carbon inventory of the industry and the carbon footprint of a given product/equipment (see, for example, the Green Production Guide, the National Energy Foundation’s carbon calculator, and the Carbon Solutions’ calculator). In particular, there are International Organization for Standardization (ISO) norms in this respect (series 9000 on quality management, 14000 on environmental management, and 50000 on energy efficiency management) that need to be considered in order to take into account sustainability criteria at all levels. In particular, ISO reports that if the 50000 series norm could be applied all over the world, about 60% of the total energy used could be saved.