Sustainability

Sustainability means the ability for human civilisation and the natural world to co-exist.

It means our energy needs to come from sources which won’t deplete and processes which won’t affect our environment.

This is inherently linked to security and resilience. Finite energy resources are inherently insecure. Significant environmental change will inevitably affect the availability of energy resources and how they can be used.

Sustainability can mean making better use of existing infrastructure and resources rather than building something new. This has a material impact on security of supply. It can also mean reducing the impact of previous unsustainable behaviour, through activities such as tree planting or carbon capture and storage.

Sustainability is a technical, economic, and societal issue, which requires a multi-disciplinary approach.