Santos Alumni

Santos’ Environmental Vision: ‘We will lighten the footprint of our activities’

Santos has a long history of conducting its activities in a way that avoids and minimises potential impacts on the environment. Santos is adopting the principles of sustainable development. They recognise their responsibility to meet community expectations and are committed to the continuous improvement of their environmental performance. Santos believes that environmental stewardship is both a management obligation and the responsibility of every employee.

In 2004 Santos was a finalist in the prestigious national Banksia Environmental Awards for its leadership role in permanently protecting Australia’s unique Coongie Lakes wetlands from future mining and petroleum exploration activity. Then, in 2007, Santos won the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association's Environment Award for research on the interaction between whales and seismic activity.

Several years later Santos once again showed its commitment to ‘going green’ with the development of the new Brisbane location, Santos Place. Santos Place is a showcase of the latest technology and sustainable design which is targeting a 6 Star Green Star rating. It features:

First class energy conservation through:

• A gas driven energy system to reduce carbon emissions by more than half:
  A tri-generation system significantly reduces energy draw by using natural gas, and feeding 50 per cent of the output energy back into building hot water and cooling systems. The remaining output energy (about 40 per cent due to energy loss) is electricity which is fed back into the building. The emissions saving is the equivalent of taking 1500 cars off the roads in Queensland every year
• A roof top rainwater harvesting system that uses six 20,000 litre tanks to store 120,000 litres of water for use as ‘grey’ water
• Striking Australian-made external sunshades which block out 25 per cent of direct sunlight

On Santos floors:

• more than 500 workstations and chairs which are 97 per cent recyclable
• timbers that are sourced from sustainable forests and used for interior veneer paneling (acoustics) and coffee tables
• 1269 plants, or about 3 plants per person, to consume Volatile Organic Compounds and return oxygen to the atmosphere
• One of the longest retro-fitted internal staircases in Queensland with 144 stairs between 8 Santos floors

  >In January 2009 Mr Kennett said the new building reinforced the company’s commitment to develop cleaner energy. “Santos Place will use just one-third of the energy of a conventional office building of the same size.

  >“It will include energy efficiency initiatives such as high performance double glazing, substantial external sun shading, state of the art ventilation and an energy-efficient gas-powered trigeneration system (which allows energy lost in conversion to be used).”

  If the the results are anything like Santos Centre in Adelaide, which in its first 18 months saved the equivalent of 1,427m3 of landfill, 1331 trees, 256 barrels of oil, and 3.2 million litres of water, then Santos Place will be making a true contribution to lightening its footprint. Read more on Santos Centre, Adelaide.

  At any one time Santos has several environmental initiatives taking place. For example, Santos supports the promotion of environmental awareness within the community with such events as the Santos-sponsored Earth Ride Adelaide 2010 - a free community event, held in conjunction with the global Earth Hour, aimed at promoting environmental sustainability, including sustainable transport options and encouraging behavioural change among patrons. Then there is the worldwide challenge of utilising the water produced in the extraction of Coal Seam Gas. Santos is facing this challenge by using the water to establish a huge plantation of Chinchilla hardwood gum trees in Queensland. Santos President GLNG and Queensland Rick Wilkinson said: ‘Not only is this project an innovative solution to a global challenge, but also it offers significant sustainable benefits to the environment and the Queensland community.’ To date, over one million trees have been planted in the Queensland plantation.

  All of Santos’ initiatives support their environmental vision that ‘we will lighten the footprint of our activities.’

Students from Injune State High School have joined forces with Santos to celebrate the planting of one million trees at Santos’ Fairview plantation north-west of Roma in Queensland.

Chiara Parker-Price (14), Brandt Harland (13), Louise Goodall (13), and Matika Laycock (12), took time out from a tour of the gas field last Friday, 30 April, to plant a Chinchilla white gum to mark the major milestone.

Santos' Area Manager Queensland CSG Fields Sam Klaas said the Fairview project has now reached the half-way mark of its target of two million native Chinchilla hardwood trees and agricultural feed crops over an area of 2,200 hectares.

The Fairview irrigation project is a key part of Santos’ strategy to manage the water produced at its Queensland coal seam gas fields, particularly in the context of the development required for GLNG.

It is the first large-scale plantation project approved for the beneficial use of water produced in the extraction of CSG.

Greatest quantities of CSG water are liberated in the earlier years of gas extraction, and the rate of water production then reduces over time. This cycle matches the time of greatest need for water by the trees during the establishment phase, and then a reduced requirement as they become more established.

Currently, project activities produce approximately 11 megalitres of water per day, 50% of which is used in the Fairview irrigation project. Potential uses for the trees include commercial timber harvesting or carbon sequestration, or both. The trees produce a rich-red, high-density hardwood with uses including feature furniture and load-bearing applications.

The first trees planted are now 16 months old and many of these have reached 4.5 metres – the tallest among them nearing six metres. By the time they are 25 years old, and fully mature, the trees are expected to reach an average of 35 metres. None ofthe trees were inundated during the major floods earlier this year, and they handled six weeks of saturated soil conditions well.