What are the local impacts of energy systems on marine ecosystem services: a systematic map protocol

Background: Increasing concentrations of atmospheric greenhouse gases (GHG) and its impact on the climate has resulted in many international governments committing to reduce their GHG emissions. The UK, for example, has committed to reducing its carbon emissions by 80% by 2050. Suggested ways of reaching such a target are to increase dependency on offshore wind, offshore gas and nuclear. It is not clear, however, how the construction, operation and decommissioning of these energy systems will impact marine ecosystem services, i.e. the services obtained by people from the natural environment such as food provisioning, climate regulation and cultural inspiration. Research on ecosystem service impacts associated with offshore energy technologies is still in its infancy. The objective of this review is to bolster the evidence base by firstly, recording and describing the impacts of energy technologies at the marine ecosystems and human level in a consistent and transparent way; secondly, to translate these ecosystem and human impacts into ecosystem service impacts by using a framework to ensure consistency and comparability. The output of this process will be an objective synthesis of ecosystem service impacts comprehensive enough to cover different types of energy under the same analysis and to assist in informing how the provision of ecosystem services will change under different energy provisioning scenarios. Methods: Relevant studies will be sourced using publication databases and selected using a set of selection criteria including the identification of: (i) relevant subject populations such as marine and coastal species, marine habitat types and the general public; (ii) relevant exposure types including offshore wind farms, offshore oil and gas platforms and offshore structures connected with nuclear; (iii) relevant outcomes including changes in species structure and diversity; changes in benthic, demersal and pelagic habitats; and changes in cultural services. The impacts will be synthesised and described using a systematic map. To translate these findings into ecosystem service impacts, the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES) and Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA) frameworks are used and a detailed description of the steps taken provided to ensure transparency and replicability.

Novel photocatalytic reactor development for removal of hydrocarbons from water

Hydrocarbons contamination of the marine environment generated by the offshore oil and gas industry is generated from a number of sources including oil contaminated drill cuttings and produced waters. The removal of hydrocarbons from both these sources is one of the most significant challenges facing this sector as it moves towards zero emissions. The application of a number of techniques which have been used to successfully destroy hydrocarbons in produced water and waste water effluents has previously been reported. This paper reports the application of semiconductor photocatalysis as a final polishing step for the removal of hydrocarbons from two waste effluent sources. Two reactor concepts were considered: a simple flat plate immobilised film unit, and a new rotating drum photocatalytic reactor. Both units proved to be effective in removing residual hydrocarbons from the effluent with the drum reactor reducing the hydrocarbon content by 90% under 10 minutes. 

Política exterior de Canadá en el ártico: entre la seguridad nacional y la prosperidad económica (2006-2011)

En el año 2010 el gobierno de Canadá pública su estrategia de política exterior hacia el Ártico, en la cual manifiesta que esta región es una de las principales prioridades del Gobierno de Stephen Harper en materia de política exterior. Así las cosas, a partir de la perspectiva teórica del realismo neoclásico la investigación se enfoca en analizar por qué la seguridad nacional y la prosperidad económica son los principales intereses de este Gobierno en la zona.

Interações de relacionamentos interorganizacionais: projetos complexos na indústria petrolífera brasileira

Este trabalho buscou investigar a interação entre os mecanismos de governança contratual e relacional na relação comprador-fornecedor e seus impactos sobre os resultados de projetos complexos. A governança dos relacionamentos interorganizacionais e sua importância estratégica para o desempenho das firmas e para a obtenção de vantagens competitivas têm sido tema de muitas pesquisas recentes na área de estratégia, bem como em áreas correlatas. Mais especificamente, é crescente a importância de tais relacionamentos na literatura de gestão, especialmente em contextos envolvendo economias emergentes. A literatura apresenta uma convergência acerca de dois tipos principais de governança nos relacionamentos interorganizacionais: a governança contratual, que se refere aos contratos e regras formalmente estabelecidas entre as firmas para geralmente coibir comportamentos oportunistas, e a governança relacional, que se baseia principalmente na confiança e em normas relacionais para coordenar tais relacionamentos. Embora diversos estudos tenham investigado a interação entre essas governanças, não há um consenso na literatura sobre a natureza dessa interação. Este estudo teve por objetivo investigar a interação dos mecanismos de governança contratual e relacional por meio de um estudo de caso sobre a implantação de um megaprojeto na indústria brasileira do petróleo offshore, envolvendo tecnologia inovadora. Os resultados indicam que os mecanismos de governança contratual e relacional desempenham importantes funções no relacionamento comprador-fornecedor e que a interação entre eles impacta os resultados do projeto em termos de prazo, custo e qualidade. Tais mecanismos atuam de forma simultânea e influenciam uns aos outros em grande medida. Percebe-se ainda que o nível de influência de cada um desses mecanismos varia ao longo do tempo, a depender do contexto. Por fim, conclui-se que os resultados do projeto, no contexto estudado, não podem ser plenamente explicados apenas pela interação entre esses mecanismos. Tais resultados precisam ser contextualizados, uma vez que diversos fatores do ambiente institucional atuam como moderadores da interação entre governanças.

Proposed Norton Basin lease sale 100 : final environmental impact statement /

"OCS EIS/ES; MMS 85-0085"--Cover.

Proposed Gulf of Alaska/Cook Inlet lease sale 88 : final environmental impact statement /

Item 603-G

Relación entre los riesgos percibidos por los trabajadores en minería subterránea y los accidentes de trabajo y enfermedades laborales

Introducción: La minería es considerada uno de los sectores económicos más importantes por su capacidad para generar recursos en su propio sector y en otros sectores como metalmecánica, agricultura e informática entre otros, y por su contribución al desarrollo socioeconómico sostenible de las poblaciones. Objetivo: Determinar la relación entre los riesgos percibidos por los trabajadores que laboran en minería subterránea en 3 departamentos de Colombia y los Accidentes de Trabajo (AT) y Enfermedades Laborales (EL). Materiales y Métodos: Estudio de corte transversal en 476 trabajadores de minería subterránea. Se incluyeron variables independientes (características sociodemográficas y laborales y percepción del riesgo) y variables dependientes (enfermedad laboral y accidente de trabajo), obtenidas a través de una entrevista directa aplicada por profesionales de la salud previamente capacitados. Para el análisis estadístico se utilizó la Prueba Exacta de Fisher, el Odds Ratio (OR) con el Intervalo de Confianza (IC) del 95%. Resultados: En los trabajadores de minería subterránea en los departamentos de Boyacá, Cundinamarca y Santander, se encontró relación estadística significativa entre la accidentalidad con la percepción de riesgo por iluminación (OR= 2.059, IC= 95%: 1.116, 3.798, p=0.013), percepción de riesgo por movimientos repetitivos (OR= 1.951, IC= 95%: 0.998, 3.815, p=0.034), percepción de riesgo por ruido (OR= 2.275, IC= 95%: 0.974, 5.312, p=0.039) y percepción de riesgo por manejo de cargas (OR= 1.778, IC= 95%: 0.969, 3.264, p=0.041). Conclusión: se encontró que existe una relación significativa entre la percepción de riesgo de los trabajadores de minería subterránea con accidentes de trabajo y que no existe relación entre esta percepción y las enfermedades laborales.

Study on the Performance of a Compact Compound Oil/Gas/Water Separator for Offshore Oil Industry

High-efficiency separation of the oil/gas/water mixtures is a significant issue in offshore oil industry. To reduce the total cost by means of reduction in weight and space compared with conventional separators, a novel compact compound oil/gas/water separator is developed. The research works on oil-gas-water separation by compound separating techniques is described in this paper. The innovative separator is a gravity settling tank with helical pipes within and T-shaped pipes outside. Both experiments and numerical simulations are presented to study the separating performance and efficiency of the helical pipes, which are the main part of the separator.

Steel–concrete–steel sandwich system in Arctic offshore structure: Materials, experiments, and design

The gravity based structure (GBS) with external Steel–Concrete–Steel (SCS) sandwich ice-resistant wall has been developed for the Arctic oil and gas drilling. This paper firstly reported the experimental studies on the mechanical properties of steel and concretes under Arctic low temperature. With the test data, design equations were developed to incorporate the influences of the low temperature on these mechanical properties. Two types of Arctic GBS structure with flower-conical SCS sandwich shell type and plate type of ice-resistant wall have been developed for the Arctic offshore structure. Besides the studies on the materials, two SCS sandwich prototype shells and plates were, respectively, prepared and tested under patch loading that simulated the localized ice-contact pressure. The structural behaviors of the SCS sandwich structure under patch loading were reported and discussions were made on the influences of different parameters on the structural behavior of the structure. Analytical models were developed to predict the punching shear resistances of the SCS sandwich structure through modifying the code provisions. The accuracies of the developed analytical models were checked through validations against 27 tests in the literature. Corresponding design procedures on resistances of SCS sandwich structure were recommended based on these discussions and validations.

Multiphase Flow Measurement in the Offshore Oil Industry

In recent years, considerable research has been conducted into the development of a three-phase flowmeter suitable for use in an offshore environment, and oil/gas/water three-phase metering becomes an important aspect in multiphase flow measurement. This paper discusses the importance of three-phase flow measurement in offshore oil industry, describes the current development in this area, and points out the principal strategies which may be used to meter three-phase flow.