Deliverable 2 (SustainAQ)

The European Project SustainAQ (Framework 6) aims to identify the limiting factors for the sustainable production of aquatic origin food in Eastern Europe. It focuses on the possible use of Recirculation Aquaculture Systems (RAS) as sustainable method for the production of aquatic animals as mentioned in the communication of the European Commission on Aquaculture in 2009. RASs already exist mainly in western countries and proved economically feasible. RASs allow controlling the production process including effluents, biosecurity and escapes. Eastern European countries are facing challenges related to their excessive water use waste emission, and others. Therefore, these countries are potential beneficiaries of improved sustainability through RAS use. This project intends to assess the benefits of introducing and applying RAS for Eastern European aquaculture. This project involves three Western European countries (Norway, the Netherlands and France) and six East European countries (Croatia, Turkey, Romania, Hungary, Czech Republic and Poland). Ten research institutions collaborate in different tasks (coordination, data collection, data analysis, etc.), and nine small-medium enterprises (SME) participate in data mining (Table 1). The present data is therefore based on the situation in those countries during 2006 till 2008 before the report got finally compiled in 2008/2009

Exploration and evaluation of offshore repurposing concepts

Økende etterspørsel etter ressurser, en global miljøkrise og politiske uroligheter krever nye måter å drive forretning på, og løsningen kan være å skape et fungerende forhold mellom økonomisk utvikling og økologiske systemer ved å innføre sirkulære strategier. Ettersom et økende antall offshore ressurser går inn i de senere livssyklusstadiene, kan norsk olje- og gassindustri utforske alternativer for å spare nedstengningskostnader for installasjoner og redusere karbonfotavtrykk. En mulig, ny ide som er verdt å studere, er alternativ bruk av strukturer og topsides for nye næringer som et kostnadseffektivt alternativ til den tradisjonelle dekommisjonerings- og resirkuleringsmetoden. Derfor er hensikten med denne oppgaven å utforske og evaluere mulige, norske konsept for alternativ bruk av offshore ressurser som i dag brukes innen olje- og gassindustrien. Det første målet er å utforske gjenbrukskonsepter og identifisere beslutningskriterier ved tematisk analyse av en litteraturgjennomgang og kvalitativ forskning. Det andre målet er å evaluere hvert gjenbrukskonsept ved å konstruere en beslutningsmatrise basert på identifiserte beslutningskriterier. Flere konsepter har blitt utforsket og evaluert, som for eksempel offshore oppdrettsanlegg, transformatorstasjoner, hydrogenproduksjon, hoteller, CCS, rigger-til-skjær. De mest fremtredende, identifiserte beslutningskriteriene var type platform, bevegelighet, tilgjengelig teknologi og ekspertise, markedspotensial og miljørisiko. En beslutningsmatrise med tekniske, økonomiske og miljømessige beslutningskriterier bekrefter at oppdrettsanlegg og transformatorstasjoner for offshore vindparker var foretrukne gjenbrukskonsepter. Denne oppgavens resultater kan veilede videre introduksjon og utvikling av sirkulære strategier i en tradisjonell industri, og potensielt gi veiledning i å finne innovative løsninger på aktuelle utfordringer.Increasing demand for resources, a global environmental crisis and political disruption demand new ways of doing business, and the solution may be to create a workable relationship between economic development and ecological systems by the introduction of circular strategies. As a growing number of offshore assets are entering the later lifecycle stages, the Norwegian oil and gas industry may explore options for saving decommissioning costs of installations and reducing carbon footprints. A viable, unexplored option worth studying is the repurposing of structures and topsides for new industries as a cost-efficient alternative to the traditional decommissioning and recycling approach. Thus, the purpose of this thesis is to explore and evaluate Norwegian repurposing concepts for offshore assets currently within the oil and gas industry. The first objective is to explore repurposing concepts and extract decision criteria by thematic analysis of a literature review and qualitative research. The second objective is to evaluate each repurposing concept by constructing a decision-making matrix based on identified decision criteria. Several concepts have been explored and evaluated, such as offshore fish farms, substations, hydrogen production, hotels, CCS, rigs-to-reefs, and more. The most prominent decision criteria during this study were asset type, movability, available technology and expertise, market potential and environmental risk. A decision matrix with technical, economic, and environmental decision criteria confirms that fish farms and substations for offshore wind parks were preferred repurposing concepts. This thesis results may guide further introduction and development of circular strategies in a traditional industry, and potentially provide guidance in finding innovative solutions to current challenges

Assessment of multi-use offshore platforms: structure classification and design challenges

As the world continues to experience problems including a lack of seafood and high energy demands, this paper provides an assessment for integrated multi-use offshore platforms (MUPs) as a step towards exploiting open seawater in a sustainable way to harvest food and energy. The paper begins with background about MUPs, including information regarding what an MUP is and why it is used. The potential energy technologies that can be involved in an offshore platform are introduced while addressing similar applications all over the world. The paper presents the state of the art of MUP structures on the light of EU-funded programs. An MUP would have a positive impact on various marine activities such as tourism, aquaculture, transport, oil and gas and leisure. However, there are concerns about the negative impact of MUPs on the marine environment and ecosystem. Building an MUP with 100% renewable energy resources is still a challenge because a large storage capacity must be considered with a well-designed control system. However, marine bio-mass would play a vital role in reducing battery size and improving power supply reliability. Direct Current (DC) systems have never been considered for offshore platforms, but they could be a better alternative as a simpler control system that requires with lower costs, has lower distribution losses, and has an increased system efficiency, so studying the feasibility of using DC systems for MUPs is required

Hydrolink 2021/3. Offshore renewable energy

Topic: Offshore renewable energ

Marine energy exploitation in the mediterranean region: steps forward and challenges

This works aims to describe current perspectives for marine energy exploitation in the Mediterranean basin, highlighting challenges and opportunities as well as the factors that still limit its market deployment. Technologies for the conversion of Marine Energy (ME) into electricity are now ready for full-scale deployment in farms of devices, making the final step from demonstration to operability and commercial exploitation. Although marine energy is more abundant along the Atlantic and Nordic European coasts, significant resources are also available in the Mediterranean Sea, opening up new perspectives for sustainable energy production in sensitive coastal areas and for the economic development of Southern Europe. The implementation of ME converters in the Mediterranean is in fact liable to induce significant technological advancements leading to product innovation, due to the local low energy levels which impose more restrictive constraints on device efficiency and environmental compatibility. In addition, the milder climate allows the testing of concepts and prototypes in the natural environment at more affordable costs, lowering capital risks for new and innovative small and medium enterprises. Research institutions and industrial players in Mediterranean countries have already taken up the challenge, despite the numerous limiting factors that still need to be removed. In particular, the ME sector adds up to the many different traditional maritime activities and to the new ocean-related industries that are developing, potentially exacerbating the competition for the use of marine space in the Mediterranean region and threatening its environmental status. The ME sector needs therefore to design suitable instruments to involve all the relevant stakeholders in a participative public debate as to how to best manage the maritime space. As the prospective sea use patterns are rapidly changing, an adequate international legal and policy framework needs to be designed for the coherent management of sea space, and Marine Spatial Planning needs to be finally implemented by EU Member States also in the Mediterranean area. To this end, the creation of transnational clusters of stakeholders is expected be an effective catalyzer, especially as they can foster the exchange of knowledge and best practices both across European countries and between the North and the South shore of the Mediterranean basin

Report of the Working Group on Marine Shellfish Culture (WGMASC) [5–8 April 2011 La Trinité-sur-Mer, France]

Contributors: Øivind Stran