Horizons viewed off coastlines across the globe are speckled by oil and gas, wind and other installations. Many local residents complain that the installations presence are eyesores and very dangerous should there be an oil spill, which can be true. Rigs are typically present in the sea for 20-30 years until they become worn out, exhausted, decommissioned and removed. More recent research is urging environmental authorities to rethink removing these installations after they’ve run their course. In the Gulf of Mexico, a typical eight-leg structure acts as an artificial reef providing a home for 12,000 to 14,000 fish, while a typical four-leg structure provides two to three acres of habitat for hundreds of marine species according to a study by the Coastal Marine Institute.
A large group of international researchers have published an article in the international journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment encouraging authorities to consider, in each individual decommissioning case, whether an exemption from the demand for removal can be granted. Jonas Teilmann, a senior researcher from Aarhus University and an author on the study says in reference to rigs in the North Sea "In, for example, the North Sea, an old oil rig will have the same function as a natural stone reef,"
A underwater camera at an old worn out North Sea oil rig shows an extensive life of flatfish, cod and bottom fauna in all its forms - Life usually not see in these parts of the North Sea. "We also see many more porpoises around oil rigs than in the surrounding sea. It's easy to understand why the porpoises enjoy the area. One can't throw a fish hook without catching one of the many cod around the legs of the oil rig," says Teilmann.
TURNING CALIFORNIA'S OIL RIGS INTO ARTIFICIAL REEFS
"We have observed a significantly increased biodiversity around the old facilities and encourage the authorities to consider, in each individual case, whether an exemption from the demand for removal can be granted. When making the assessment, the environmental conditions must, of course, be of sufficient quality," says Teilmann.
Surveying a global group of environmental experts, 94.7% of experts (36 out of 38) agreed that a more flexible case‐by‐case approach to decommissioning could benefit the North Sea environment. They found that partial removal options were considered to deliver better environmental outcomes than complete removal for platforms, but both approaches were equally supported for wind turbines. Key considerations identified for decommissioning were enhancing biodiversity, providing of reef habitat, and protection from bottom trawling, all of which are negatively affected by complete installation removal.
There are more than 7,500 oil and gas platforms and between 10,000 and 20,000 wind turbines that need to be removed at some point around the globe. To remove these installations, it is estimated to cost up to €100 billion. Instead perhaps this hefty sum of money can be saved, spent in alternative sustainable ways and improve the conditions for marine life instead.
For this far reaching article please find the full text:
https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/fee.1827
Ashley M Fowler, Anne-Mette Jørgensen, Jon C Svendsen, Peter I Macreadie, Daniel OB Jones, Arjen R Boon, David J Booth, Robin Brabant, Emily Callahan, Jeremy T Claisse, Thomas G Dahlgren, Steven Degraer, Quenton R Dokken, Andrew B Gill, David G Johns, Robert J Leewis, Han J Lindeboom, Olof Linden, Roel May, Albertinka J Murk, Geir Ottersen, Donna M Schroeder, Sunil M Shastri, Jonas Teilmann, Victoria Todd, Gert Van Hoey, Jan Vanaverbeke, Joop WP Coolen. Environmental benefits of leaving offshore infrastructure in the ocean. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 2018; DOI: 10.1002/fee.1827
For more info on Rigs-to-Reefs please see http://www.rig2reefexploration.org/read-me/
