Sustainability

Digital Twins Can Help Unlock UN Sustainable Development Goals

Case studies provide evidence of achievements in corporate sustainability while pursuing the adopted United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, thus highlighting the possibilities made available by digital twin technology.

Digital trees and oil infrastructure 3D vector illustration
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In 2015, the United Nations General Assembly established seventeen global goals—the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—as part of a universal 2030 agenda to address some of the world’s fundamental economic, social, and environmental issues.

Despite the fact that oil and gas companies are frequently singled out by sustainability activists, it is important to remember that oil and gas have the potential to make significant contributions to the SDGs on multiple levels, including social, environmental, and economic.

This study analyses the need to overcome barriers in the path to adoption of digital twin technology by oil and gas companies. Case studies provide evidence of achievements in corporate sustainability while pursuing the adopted United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), thus highlighting the possibilities made available by digital twin technology and building the case for digital twins as a breakthrough technology.

To enhance efficiency and safety, the hydrocarbon industry is looking at a wide range of digital technologies, including machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things (IoT). The hydrocarbon industry is increasingly using data-oriented solutions as a means to improve performance, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness. Understanding such complicated systems necessitates the simultaneous examination of data gathered from numerous sources.

The next era of large production monitoring and efficiency systems will be based on digital twin modeling. From underground equipment to central production plants, it is part of a productivity-boosting solution that integrates data, simulation, and visualization. Oil and gas companies can benefit greatly if these cutting-edge technologies are properly used in addition to pursuing the adoption of the UN SDGs.

SPE members can download the complete paper from SPE’s Health, Safety, Environment, and Sustainability Technical Discipline page for free from 9 to 22 November.

Find paper SPE 211073 on OnePetro here.