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| Science & Technology |
| Norway to run giant gas compressor on ocean bottom, enviros complain |
| 2013-08-16 |
| 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 world’s biggest offshore machine. The Statoil equipment has been designed to pump some $30bn worth of gas from a depleted gas field. It’s 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 Frank’s colleagues at the technology centre put it in a nutshell: “There’s a clear commercial logic to the underwater compressor,” he told me. “We can make tens of billions of dollars." “We’re 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 that’s emitted? Of course you don’t.” |
| Posted by:Anguper Hupomosing9418 |
| #5 ....let the enviros power their lives with the methane produced from arm-farts.... |
| Posted by: Uncle Phester 2013-08-16 15:52 |
| #4 Apparently the tide is turning against the global warmism religion. No worries, Anguper Hupomosing9418. According to Anthony Watts, the new terminology has gone straight past climate disruption to carbon pollution. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2013-08-16 10:07 |
| #3 Besides the tech involved, the other interesting thing in this article is that the oil researcher dared to say: "Do you see that level of excitement about capturing the CO2 that's emitted? Of course you don't." Apparently the tide is turning against the global warmism religion. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2013-08-16 09:02 |
| #2 I worked on a Statoil Operation for nearly a year. They are a careful and professional bunch, I miss working for them. BP is okay but Statoil is the best example I've seen of how an oil company should run. |
| Posted by: Silentbrick 2013-08-16 06:14 |
| #1 But environmentalists say as a state-owned enterprise, Statoil should concentrate on saving carbon emissions rather than seeking more hydrocarbons. Would somebody just start cutting electricity to the homes of known enviros? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2013-08-16 02:55 |
