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Norway to run giant gas compressor on ocean bottom, enviros complain
A structure the size of a soccer pitch has been sent plunging to the bottom of the ocean 125 miles off Norway.It will house a giant compressor claimed to be the worlds biggest offshore machine. The Statoil equipment has been designed to pump some $30bn worth of gas from a depleted gas field. Its a technological leap for Statoil to place the compressor on the sea bed instead of on a typical platform perched above the waves. This megaproject is a gamble. Statoil say for the same price as a compressor on a platform - $2bn - they can retrieve more gas using 30-50% less energy with a compressor on the sea floor, nearer to the gas deposit. But environmentalists say as a state-owned enterprise, Statoil should concentrate on saving carbon emissions rather than seeking more hydrocarbons. There appears little international will to force carbon capture into the mainstream and the technology is years behind schedule. Frank Ellingsen directs the experimental Mongstat technology centre where a consortium of firms led by Statoil is testing two types of carbon capture equipment on two types of exhaust. One of Franks colleagues at the technology centre put it in a nutshell: Theres a clear commercial logic to the underwater compressor, he told me. We can make tens of billions of dollars." Were an oil and gas company of course people are excited by a massive operation like that on the sea bed. Do you see that level of excitement about capturing the CO2 thats emitted? Of course you dont. Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2013-08-16 |
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