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The OG21 Technology Target Area 1 (TTA 1) group has produced a strategy for ‘Environmental Technology for the Future’. A key aim of this work is to ensure that the operators on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) remain in a leading position with respect to environmental performance, while contributing to optimised resource recovery and value creation. This strategy focuses on environmental technology, which includes hardware, methods, software and knowledge.
The TTA 1 group has agreed on a common vision:
‘Norwegian oil and gas activities shall be leading in environmental performance, and Norway shall have the world leading knowledge and technology cluster within environmental technologies to support the zero harmful impact goals of the oil and gas industry.’
Priorities have been made with emphasis on gaps that are considered most important to close and that will benefit from public R&D funding either for initialisation (primarily via the Petromaks and Climit programs) or acceleration (via Petromaks / Climit and particularly Demo 2000 where demonstration or piloting is required). The priorities aim to avoid technology gaps that are expected to be closed adequately through existing projects / programs or which are covered in other TTA strategies.
The priority areas as identified are:
· Environmental impact and risk identification / quantification for new areas: Make quality assured environmental baseline data available on the web. Develop competence necessary to quantify and monitor the risks and risk reductions to the marine environment in new area ecosystems.
· Carbon capture and storage: Quantify environmental risks and waste management issues associated with bi-products from carbon capture processes and storage solutions. Develop and demonstrate effective carbon storage risk management, monitoring and mitigation technologies. Develop more cost and energy efficient power-from-shore solutions to reduce / eliminate CO2 emissions from offshore facilities. Develop knowledge and new concepts for carbon capture and storage solutions that are energy efficient, with low cost and low impact.
· Produced water management: Develop and qualify technologies to minimise water production as fields mature and technologies to remove identified harmful components, including compact, effective retrofit solutions. Develop and qualify high reliability “zero discharge” solutions, taking into account a life cycle perspective and including reliable on-line monitors. Develop and qualify efficient water management systems that require less/greener chemicals, are energy efficient and produce a minimum of waste products.
· Acute discharges, leaks and spills: Develop and qualify spill and leak detection and monitoring technologies for subsea flowlines. Develop and demonstrate robust oil spill monitoring and response technologies and methods, with focus on near shore and Arctic areas. Develop next generation tools for predicting drift, fate and effect of oil spread in selected coastal, deepwater and Arctic areas.
· Chemicals management: Develop and qualify decision support tools for optimum selection and application of chemicals to minimize unwanted interactions in processing systems, incorporating evaluation of alternatives to chemical usage.
· Balance emissions and discharges: Develop methods and criteria for balancing and assessing impacts from discharges to sea and emissions to air (holistic approach) as well as minimising the total footprint. Develop assessment methods and criteria to evaluate impacts of discharges offshore vs in the coastal zone. Quantify the effects of compliance to a zero discharge versus a zero harmful discharge framework.
Communicating the industry’s high standards and track record, and the exciting future sustainable development opportunities, are key to improve public perception as well as recruitment to the oil and gas industry.
Continuous improvement of environmental legislation and technology based on in-depth knowledge of environmental impact will further strengthen the position of the Norwegian oil and gas industry. The industry should continue to provide proactive input to the process of creating new legislation.
Continuous innovation and development are important for attracting international companies to Norway, maintaining recruitment to the industry and to support export of environmental technology that can have a positive global impact.
Environmental considerations specific to the other Technology Target Areas are discussed in their respective strategies. The identified interfaces are listed in Section 7.
TTA 1 – Environmental technology for the future
Helge Skjæveland, Shell (Lead party rep)
Espen E Hoell, Acona CMG
Erik Bjørklund, Aibel
Nina Christine Kirkeng, Aker Solutions
Eilen Arctander Vik, Aquateam
Gunnar H Lille, Chevron
David Peddie, CMR
Eimund Garpestad, ConocoPhillips
Tor Jensen, DNV
Axel Kelly, ENI Norge
Ingvild Skåre, ExxonMobil
Ingrid Anne Munz, IFE
Steinar Sanni, IRIS
Ann Gunn Rike, NGI
Hallvard Svendsen, NTNU
Einar Lystad, OLF
Ivar Singsaas, Sintef
Trond Gulbrandsen, StatoilHydro
Ulf Einar Moltu, Total
