Background IRIS
Background
Important driving forces behind the research and development at IRIS for environmental O&G activites are represented by the European policy to obtain sustainable development for industrial activities, and in particular by the 'zero harmful discharge' regulation for the oil industry operating on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.
The ‘zero harmful discharge’ regulation has required major improvements of the methods for how environmental effects could be assessed, both in terms of measurement and prediction capabilities. The environmental prediction capabilities have been developed within frame works of environmental risk assessment, and the measurement methods have been developed for integration in the industry's monitoring programmes. The main focus has been on potentially long term effects in organisms living in the water column, and capacities for both environmental prediction and monitoring have been developed in the North Sea maritime area. Further research has aimed to transfer these capacities to other conditions, such as cold waters in the Arctic and the deep sea areas, and to other geographical regions.
Another R&D target has been to develop capability to evaluate and treat oil industry discharges, ranging from cutting piles to oil spills. Biodegradation processes and -remediation techniques have been studied for sea bottom sediment and coastal beach areas.
In order to meet the future challenges, one of the major focus areas is to develop integrated environmental monitoring solutions for marine operations, which includes measurements of parameters at different levels of biological organization for assessment of effect.
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