Scientists Aims to Recycle Marine Life Growing on Oil Rigs

Marine growth on the recycling rigs. Scientists want to demonstrate how marine vegetation on dormant oil and gas rigs in the North Sea may be used as fish and animal feed.

Several marine creatures may be seen on the underwater jacket of a platform near the end of its lifespan. Depending on the environmental factors in the water, different depths are home to different types of algae, seaweed, mussels, anemones, and hard and soft coral.

"As the North Sea oil and gas sector matures, the decommissioning sector has a critical role to play in ensuring that the parts of those installations which are no longer in use and are required to be brought to shore are disposed of safely and responsibly" said Karen Seath, director of CessCon's environmental and regulatory affairs.

We have an ambitious goal to achieve a point when all decommissioned items brought onshore are repurposed, reconditioned, renovated, or recycled. Our approach is based on the principles of the circular economy.

Marine growth is usually disposed of in landfills or burned, but we recognize the chance to do more and use this waste to assist other industries' supply chains.

"There is also continuous discussion over whether the clean seabed policy is the most advantageous course of action, both financially and environmentally," she continued.

For instance, in other international marketplaces, decommissioned infrastructure has been turned into artificial reefs and left in the water, preserving the undersea ecology developed for the platform's existence.

"At this time, however, infrastructure in European seas that has reached the end of its useful life must be removed unless an exception is granted. We want to reuse and recycle the material as sustainably as possible.

Critical Study

"This study is about understanding the nutritional composition of the marine growth retrieved from decommissioned rigs, whether onshore or offshore and the viability of recovering proteins and fatty acids from the waste materials," said Boon-Seang Chu, a lecturer in food science at Abertay University.

The findings of this effort will assist and guide the project's subsequent phases.

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