Environment and Sustainable Development in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia : Current Status and Future Strategy

Air quality deterioration in urban areas; high energy demand and consumption due to regional population growth and economic development; concerns about safe drinking water supplies due to a scarcity of fresh water; air quality deterioration, industrial pollution, waste management, and pollution in coastal areas; and subsequent stress on marine ecosystems are all major environmental challenges being faced by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. For effective protection of the environment, an interdisciplinary approach within a sustainable framework, which integrates human needs with economic development and environmental protection, is required. This paper presents an overview of Saudi Arabia’s major environmental problems and challenges and offers opportunities to use economic growth, social equity, and protection of the environment as interrelated components. The role of active participation by governments, stakeholders, businesses, academic institutions, and individuals in the decision-making process and an inter-disciplinary research approach will be identified for each major environmental issue.


Introduction
The interconnections between economic growth and the environment were recognized in the 1972 United Nations Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment.Fifteen years later, during the World Commission on Environment and Development, the UN-sponsored Brundtland Commission released Our Common Future, a report that captured widespread concerns about the environment and poverty in many parts of the world.This report indicated that economic development cannot stop but must change its course to fit within the planet's ecological limits.It also popularized the term "sustainable development", defining it as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their needs".During the World Commission, an agenda for environment and development in the 21st Century known as Agenda 21 was adopted and recognizes each nation's right to pursue social and economic progress.The lifestyle of the current civilization was addressed in Principle 8 of the Rio Declaration.Agenda 21 further reaffirmed that sustainable development is the integration of economic, social, and environmental pillars.It also calls on countries to adopt national strategies for sustainable development (NSDS) that build upon and harmonize various local economic, social, and environmental policies and plans within each country.In 2002, the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) was convened in Johannesburg to renew a global commitment to sustainable development.It urged the United States not only to take immediate steps to formulate and elaborate national strategies for sustainable development but also to begin their implementation by 2005.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is committed to effectively implementing sustainable development within its national development plan and has made steady progress in its socio-economic development, gender equity, standard of living, health, education, and environmental legislation.Some of the potential areas in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia where environmental sustainability research can play important roles include: (1) National air quality management plan (2) Sustainable water resources planning (3) Sustainable energy planning    (Mofarrah & Husain, 2010;Mofarrah et al., 2011).Several other organizations in the Kingdom also collect data on air quality, for example, Saudi Aramco's Air Quality Monitoring & Meteorology Network (AMMNET), the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu (RCJY) network in the industrial cities of Jubail and Yanbu, and the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) air quality network in Riyadh.In order to use this data effectively, it is proposed that all air quality and meteorological data be integrated into a central data repository as a national database.Such integration will assist model validation, impact and risk assessment studies, and regulatory uses.It will require a compatibility evaluation of the hardware and software and the development of a relational database with user-friendly menu-driven modules (Figure 2).

Concentration in ppb
For the effectiveness of sustainable air quality management at a national level, it is important to integrate monitoring, modeling, and databases through decision support software; keeping a balance between sustainable economic development and protection of human health and ecosystems requires the active participation of stakeholders.During the process of developing these tools, the capacity building and training of highly skilled professionals is essential.The interactions of all of the above elements are shown schematically in Figure 3.

Sustainable Water Resources Planning
Sustainable water resources planning (SWRP) is based on the proper integration of social, environmental, and technical aspects by recognizing water source and water quality linkages, predicting water demands, and incorporating conflicting objectives and uncertainty into the data and model parameters using multi-objective optimization tools and probabilistic models.SWRP also integrates economic, engineering, technological, and SWRP has become a crucial tool in the development of areas where renewable freshwater resources are highly constrained (Husain, 2009).To meet an increasing demand for water, many countries are developing alternative sources, including desalination as a potable source and treated wastewater effluent for landscaping, restricted irrigation, and aquifer recharge (Husain & Ahmed, 1997).Under climate-change conditions, even temperate regions face certain risks of droughts, and occasional extreme flooding causes serious damage.To address these major challenges, the prediction of both the whole hydrologic regime with high resolution and the long-term environmental consequences resulting from changes in that regime is needed.SWRP, a tool to evaluate and find viable options in an environmentally sound and cost-effective manner, integrates contributions from natural, social, scientific, and engineering disciplines in order to derive potential practical measures.SWRP is also compatible with other societal goals (e.g., protecting biodiversity, climate change, making good use of water for agriculture, and flood protection).

Current Status
The depletion of water in aquifers due to increased agricultural and landscaping activities in Saudi Arabia has exerted pressure on natural water systems, including renewable and non-renewable water resources.
Approximately 22 billion cubic meters of water was used in Saudi Arabia in 2005 for which non-renewable groundwater was a major source, while surface and renewable groundwater shared 36% of the demand, desalination 5%, and treated reclaimed wastewater only 1% of the total demand.In its current Five-Year Development Plan, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia emphasizes the use of treated wastewater effluent and its integration with other alternatives in developing a national water plan.In Saudi Arabia, a significant amount of water is used for agricultural and landscaping purposes (Table 1), from non-renewable groundwater sources (Al-Humoud et al., 2003).Domestic and industrial water requirements are 45% and 8% of the total demand respectively; consequently, through proper allocation, a significant percentage of the agricultural and landscaping needs could be met by the use of treated domestic and industrial wastewater.As such, the extraction of fresh water from non-renewable sources could be greatly reduced and wastewater disposal minimized by the same amount; this would translate to a reduction of other environmental problems.However, 1% of the total demand is currently being satisfied by the use of treated wastewater (Shareef et al., 2005).A supply and demand schematic is presented in Figure 4.  Future water demands can be satisfied by using surface and renewable sources, groundwater and non-renewable sources, desalinated seawater, and treated wastewater.To meet these challenges, four options using varying amounts of treated wastewater (10%, 25%, 30%, 35%) in combination with groundwater and desalinated water sources are developed, as listed in Table 2.The fourth option in the table represents a reduction of both groundwater extraction and desalination and a use of 35% supply from treated domestic wastewater and a 5% supply from treated industrial wastewater.
For sustainable water resources planning, we can use an MCDM approach for sustainable water management through incorporating possible water supply sources (groundwater, treated wastewater, surface and renewable water, and desalinated water), water demands (domestic, industrial, landscaping, and agricultural), cost, risk, social perception, and feasibility.A fuzzy multistage decision-making approach has already been developed for sustainable water resources planning (Chowdhury & Husain, 2006).

Future Strategy
Sustainable water resources planning for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia would use an MCDM methodology in developing an integrated water management plan at the regional and national levels (Figure 5).The proposed methodology would incorporate the conflicting objectives of such stakeholders as regulatory agencies, industries, and consumers in the decision-making process; possible qualitative and quantitative data on water supply sources, including groundwater, treated wastewater, surface and renewable water resources, and desalinated water; water demands for domestic, industrial, landscaping, and agricultural uses; and associated environmental and human health risks with each supply source.
A national plan on sustainable water resources planning should be formulated for the Kingdom which would help in developing coordination with water industries, consumers, the Ministry of Water and Electricity, the National Water Company, and regulatory agencies such as PME.In considering treated wastewater as an aquifer recharge and for landscaping and agricultural use, as a long-term alternative in the region, it is important to assess its i Husain, 20 The decisi for evalua flood man regional e reliability the system is another criterion in the development of each option and scenario.Figure 6 shows various attributes and indicators that need to be considered for both quantitative and qualitative data collection.The developed decision support model is designed to incorporate the opinions of different stakeholders such as regulatory agencies, industries, water industry experts, and consumers in the decision-making process.
Stakeholders and end users should give their opinions of the four major water management attributes listed in Figure 6 and provide qualitative and quantitative inputs on various sub-attributes.This model is a powerful tool for informed decision-making and can be integrated with databases and other supporting software.The long-term impact of climate change on water resources is an important component and may adversely impact crop growth and terrestrial ecosystems, which will require the integration of conservation, wastewater use, and aquifer recharge to meet future demands.
An MCDM methodology considers both quantitative and qualitative inputs for decision-making purposes and analyzes the problem in the following sequences: (1) Identification of alternatives (2) Definition of basic attributes (3) Defining ranking and weights for each attribute ter to n: the aters.from power and desalination plants can alter temperature and salinity, especially in semi-closed lagoons; mangrove mortality may be caused by a 3-5°C increase above ambient water temperatures in the tropics; and the diversity and mass of associated fauna may diminish by 90%.
The discharge of partially treated or untreated municipal wastewater presents a significant management problem.In most cases, inadequate marine outfall systems discharge low-quality treated effluent into adjacent coastal waters.It is well known that excessive nutrient loads, especially phosphorus and nitrogen compounds, cause significant ecological changes.The structure of plankton communities is altered, with a preferential growth of small flagellates rather than the larger diatoms, and unusual plankton "blooms," uncontrolled by the normal processes of grazing.
Large recreational cities and centers have been developed along the Jeddah coastline in the absence of adequate planning or evaluation of potential environmental impacts.The construction of these large projects has required significant dredging and filling operations, which adversely impact coastal habitants.

Future Strategy
To restore safe environmental conditions and to preserve these water bodies, it is important that a marine ecological risk assessment methodology be developed and a scientifically sound systematic procedure for environmental impact studies for coastal zone management established for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.An Oil Spill Modeling Center should be established in coordination with PME and other regional marine organizations such as the Regional Organization of the Protection of Marine Environment (ROPME) and Protection of the Environment of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden (PERSGA) in order to develop a sustainable plan to protect the marine environment in the region.Such integration would help in better understanding water-quality changes in coastal areas and in developing impact zones for accidental spills.The study would also help PME in coastal zone management and ecological risk assessment and management.

Waste Management
Millions of tons of waste are generated in the Kingdom every year from residential, commercial, and industrial sectors, but little attention is paid to its recycling, reuse, and reduction.Due to the improper disposal of these wastes, a growing concern is its ensuing threat to ecosystems and human health.It is difficult to categorize and discuss all wastes, but this paper's emphasis is on the waste generated from power plants and mineral processing, especially from phosphate-and bauxite-processing facilities.

Current Status
Burning fuel oil yields about 3 kg of ash per kiloliter of fuel oil (Tsai, S. L., & Tsai, M. S., 1997) and most of this ash (approximately 90%) passes through a flue gas stream and is collected by electrostatic precipitators (ESP) or cyclones (Hsieh & Tsai, 2003).The fly ash generated by the burning of heavy fuel oil is generally termed heavy fuel oil fly ash (HOFA).On average, 50-60 tons of HOFA are generated per day from a mid-range (i.e., 2300 MW power generating capacity) power plant (Hsieh & Tsai, 2003).Due to its local availability and relatively low cost, heavy fuel oil is used in most power generation facilities in Saudi Arabia: it uses about 320 million barrels of crude oil annually for power generation (Breakbulk online news, 2010-07-20), which produces about a quarter million tons of OFA, most of which is disposed of in landfills.HOFA is generated and disposed into the landfill.It is anticipated that the production of HOFA will continue to increase in the future.Therefore, power plants in the Kingdom may face difficulties with the disposal of the produced HOFA.Its current industrial management practices of HOFA mainly follow a dry disposal procedure, where the FA is transported by truck or conveyor from the power plant to the disposal site.
The Saudi Arabian Mining Company Ma'aden established a joint venture with Saudi Arabian Basic Industrial Corporation (SABIC) to build the world's largest integrated diammonium phosphate (DAP) fertilizer plant and bauxite/aluminum refining and smelter complex in Rasal Khair, on the Arabian Gulf coast, 90 km from the industrial city of Jubail.This plant is designed to produce 2.9 million tonnes of DAP per year (Mtpy) using 5 Mtpy of phosphate concentrate from Al-Jalamid.In the same industrial complex, RasAzZawr, an aluminum plant will be constructed and operated, including a 740,000 tonne per year (tpy) aluminum smelter and a 1.4 Mtpy alumina refinery.During the operation of these plants, a large quantity of phosphogypyum (PG) and red mud (RM) will be generated as waste residues.It is estimated that around 4-5 metric tons of PG for each ton of phosphate and 1-3 tons of RM sludge per ton of alumina will be produced, and stockpiled in a nearby area.Since these wastes contain organic and inorganic impurities, trace metals, and radioactive substances, its proper disposal and use is critical.

Future Strategy
Potential economic incentive exists for developing innovative and environmental safe applications of OFA from power plants using heavy fuel oil.One study explored the sustainable potential use of HOFA as a natural adsorbent to remove organic and inorganic compounds from wastewater (Mofarrah et al., 2013a & b;Mofarrah & Husain, 2013).The preliminary results indicate that developed activated carbon from HOFA has potential industrial applications, especially removing heavy metals such as arsenic (As), copper (Cu), and lead (Pb) from wastewater streams.The results also indicate that developed activated carbon has the potential to remove Cr (VI) from wastewater.Under test conditions, a maximum of 91.51% Cr (VI) removal efficiency was achieved.The study also showed that HOFA blended with cement can be used as soil stabilization material in an environmentally safe manner (Mofarrah et al., 2012a).
The extracted carbon from HOFA is useful in removing total organic carbon and disinfectant by-products (DBPs) from water supply systems (Ahmad, 2013;Ahmad et al., 2012;Husain et al., 2012).This research is an excellent example of sustainable waste management.From the Shoaibah and Rabigh power plants alone, about 80 tons of HOFA are collected and dumped into landfills every day.Since Saudi Arabia is currently installing large power plants in Khafji, South Jeddah, Shoaibah, and Rabigh with several GW capacity and all these plants will use heavy fuel oil, it is expected that the generation of HOFA will be several times higher than that being currently produced.Its proper management and disposal is therefore very critical in the future.
Phosphogypsum (PG) is primarily gypsum.Impurities include quartz, fluorides, phosphates, and organic matter, as well as A1 and Fe minerals, with elevated levels of trace elements such as As, Cd, Cr, Mn, Pb, and 238 U decay products relative to background levels.It also includes residual acids (e.g., H 2 SO 4 and H 3 PO 4 ) and fluoride and sulfate anions.These trace elements, as well as major elements present, including sulfur (S), phosphorous (P), and fluorine (F), are of concern should they become mobilized from the PG and released into the environment.In addition, levels of N compounds, including NO 3 , which tend to be highly mobile, can be elevated in PG.Phosphate deposits around the world contain appreciable concentrations of radioactive material originating from the decay of U and Th present in the ores.During processing, fractionation occurs, with most of the U and Th dissolving through the acidulation of the phosphate rock with sulfuric acid, while most of the Ra is deposited with the PG.Thus, the main nuclides of concern in PG are 226 Ra and its daughter products.Groundwater contamination with radionuclides and atmospheric contamination with radon are potential hazards of PG stacks.
Red mud (RM) is highly alkaline, with a pH>11.Due to its high alkalinity it can cause intense irritation.It also contains caustic soda, which can lead to air pollution and adverse health effects.The presence of trace elements such as arsenic in RM can pose human health hazards and environmental contamination in water and soils, if not disposed properly.It requires a proper handling and storage facility to minimize its adverse impacts on the environment.With a view to simultaneously protecting the environment and using these large amounts of waste by-product, such as construction material, soil treatment, or as a by-product to treat wastewater, etc., it is proposed that an in-depth investigation be conducted through laboratory and field experiments to identify their optimal use.Since RM is highly alkaline, with a high pH, and PG has a lower pH value, their mixing in the right proportions may help in developing a stabilized product.However, such uses will require detailed scientific studies to better understand the mobility of various undesirable constituents present in both residues.
Since these two facilities are close to each other in the industrial complex of Rasal Khair, it will be a unique opportunity to identify the most cost-effective solution for their use.RM and PG, either as individual materials or as a mixture, can be considered as potential alternate construction materials, possibly in road embankment or in constructing coastal levees.The projected environmental benefit and cost savings of these secondary materials can be of considerable importance both environmentally and technologically.However, for the effective use of these residues, an appropriate level of assurance in the environmental performance and system design is crucial.PG can also be used as a substitute for natural gypsum after suitable treatment, and it can also be used as a cement binder in combination with other industrial by-products.
In the past, these residues, in combination with other materials, have been tested for use as adsorbents to remove heavy metals from waste streams, amendment of soil to increase crop yield by adding RM and PG in the sandy soil, and site remediation by reducing the mobility of heavy metals and other contaminants through soil stabilization.However, since both residues contain impurities in the form of heavy metals, radioactive materials, and other undesirable constituents, it is important to characterize these materials and conduct an in-depth investigation of their mobility, leaching, and impact through laboratory and field investigations before their recycling and reuse and testing for technology development.There is a vast amount of scientific literature available which will help in identifying and screening potential technology developments, but these results cannot directly be applied since the physical, chemical, and morphological characteristics of these residues are site-specific, with a significant variation in their characteristics.It is, therefore, necessary that a detailed characterization of ores and residue be carried out and the interaction and mobility of the contaminants present be scientifically studied before laboratory and field testing of the technology.

Conclusions and Recommendations
Sustainable development is a means to reconcile human development by safeguarding our future and improving the quality of life by resource conservation and protection of the environment and human health.This concept is promising, especially as the world is facing the many environmental challenges of global warming, desertification, air and water pollution, poverty, poor health, and loss of biodiversity.It emphasizes the importance of maintaining and improving the quality of life by ensuring that any decision made in this regard will integrate social, economic, and environmental consequences.
In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, remarkable progress is being made in implementing a sustainable development concept in government, industry, and businesses.Due to its population growth and an improved standard of living, the country has witnessed rapid economic development and industrialization, keeping a balance in economic growth, environmental protection, and social priorities.The tools and concept presented in this paper will help in economic development by protecting the environment and keeping the public and stakeholders involved in the decision-making process of finding alternate energy resources, managing waste, protecting water bodies, and developing alternatives for safe drinking water within a sustainable framework.Some of the key issues in the environmental discipline and long-term strategies to handle within a sustainable framework are as follows: (1) Major cities show an elevated level of NO x , SO 2 , VOCs, O 3 , and PM 10 .VOCs combined with high levels of NO x and sunlight are major contributors to O 3 increase in urban areas.A sustainable national plan is therefore needed for air quality management and assessment through monitoring, modeling, and a risk assessment approach.Such a plan should keep a balance between sustainable economic development and the protection of human health and ecosystems with the active participation of stakeholders.
(2) Due to hot and arid climatic conditions and very little rainfall, fresh water in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is very limited.Population growth, an increase in the standard of living, and rapid economic development add stress on water availability in the region.A national plan on sustainable water resources planning should therefore be developed with an emphasis on water conservation and the use of treated wastewater for aquifer recharge, landscaping, and restricted agricultural use.It is also important to assess its impact on the environment and health and its economic and technological implications.This national plan should also integrate possible water supply sources (groundwater, treated wastewater, surface and renewable water, and desalinated water), water demands (domestic, industrial, landscaping, and agricultural), and their associated cost, risk, and social perception using an MCDM methodology.
(3) The energy demand in the Kingdom will be approximately 120 GW by 2050.To meet this growing demand, 8 million barrels of oil per day will be used in power utility systems.As a result, there will be no export of oil which will adversely impact national economy.It is therefore important to develop a sustainable energy efficiency (EE) program by improving the efficiency of energy use and its generation.Another option is to reduce the Kingdom's dependence on fossil fuel by developing renewable energy while simultaneously improving the efficiency of current and future energy resources.Since the Kingdom has enormous solar and wind energy potential, appropriate strategies and tools are needed, including an optimization-based decision support tool to help in providing a comprehensive analysis of energy planning, climate change impacts, and energy and environmental policy responses within an energy management system framework.
(3) Saudi Arabia is surrounded by the Arabian Gulf on the east and the Red Sea on the west coast.Several cities and towns are located on these two coasts and their economy and living conditions depend on the status of the coastal ecosystem and the protection of marine habitats.These coastal regions have been subjected to a wide range of human activities, with a loss of biodiversity, soil degradation, and sediment erosion.To restore these water bodies, it is important that a marine ecological risk assessment methodology be developed and a scientifically sound systematic procedure for coastal zone management established for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.An Oil Spill Modeling Center should be established in coordination with PME, ROPME, and PERSGA.
(4) Millions of tons of waste are generated every year, most of which are either dumped into landfills or piled near industrial facilities, and cause environmental threat and economic loss.In order to sustain development and protect the environment, an integrated concept on waste reduction, recovery of usable materials, and recycling and reuse of waste should be developed.

Figure1b.
Figure1b.Ambient sulfur dioxide concentration trend in major Saudi Arabian cities

Figure 3 .
Figure 3. Elements of a sustainable air quality management plan

Figure 4 .
Figure 4. Schematic for water supply and demand in Saudi Arabia

Figure 6 .
Figure 6.Sustainability indicators in evaluating water supply alternatives , and control are implemented by PME.An air monitoring network is being expanded, with more than 100 new air quality stations being installed in cities and towns

Table 1 .
Water demands in MCMY in Saudi Arabia and projection for 2030 (MCMY = million cubic meters per year)

Table 2 .
Possible future integration with treated wastewater (MCMY = million cubic meters per year)