Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Box 1.1
Sustainability criteria in the OECD's
Environmental Strategy for the First
Decade of the 21st Century
I R
EGENERATION
Renewable resources shall be used efficiently and their use shall not be permitted to
exceed their long-term rates of natural regeneration.
II S
UBSTITUTABILITY
Non-renewable resources shall be used efficiently and their use limited to levels which can
be offset by substitution by renewable resources or other forms of capital.
III A
SSIMILATION
Releases of hazardous or polluting substances to the environment shall not exceed its
assimilative capacity; concentrations shall be kept below established critical levels necessary
for the protection of human health and the environment. When assimilative capacity is
effectively zero (eg for hazardous substances that are persistent and/or bio-accumulative),
effectively a zero release of such substances is required to avoid their accumulation in the
environment.
IV A
VOIDING
IRREVERSIBILITY
Irreversible adverse effects of human activities on ecosystems and on biogeochemical and
hydrological cycles shall be avoided. The natural processes capable of maintaining or
restoring the integrity of ecosystems should be safeguarded from adverse impacts of
human activities. The differing levels of resilience and carrying capacity of ecosystems must
be considered in order to conserve their populations of threatened, endangered and criti-
cal species.
Source:
OECD, 2001,
p6
OECD sustainability principle I (renewables)
As part of an aviation system, aircraft are only one of a wide range of static and mobile
infrastructure required to support passenger and freight air transport (see Figure 1.1).
Each item of infrastructure requires manufacture and operation, entailing resource
use and waste. With regard to OECD principle I, it is unlikely that significant use is
being made of renewable resources except for foodstuffs.
OECD sustainability principle II (substitutes)
The most obvious and perhaps important violation of principle II (development of
substitutes) in aviation - as in most economic sectors - is fossil fuel consumption.
Discussing the implications for transport of a declining oil supply, Fleay (1999) refers
to
The World's Oil Supply 1930-2050
by Campbell and Laherrere (1995), based on
performance data from thousands of oil fields in 65 countries. Campbell and Laher-
rere concluded that the mid-point of ultimate conventional oil production would be
reached by year 2000 and that decline would soon begin. They expected production
post-peak would halve about every 25 years, an exponential decline of 2.5 to 2.9 per
