Decommissioning - relative effects of alternative management strategies (DREAMS)

在20世纪70年代发现可开采的石油和天然气后，在北海安装了大量的硬基础设施，如钻井平台。20世纪90年代，由于公众对Brent Spar海上处置的强烈抗议，政府出台了相关法规，要求海上油气设施在使用寿命结束时拆除。北海的许多基础设施现在已经到了使用寿命的尽头，至少就其安装的目的而言，它们将被退役。其中很大一部分成本由纳税人承担。其他的退役方法也是可能的。在世界其他地方，多余的基础设施被留在原地，以支持野生动物或限制海底干扰，重新安置以形成人工珊瑚礁，重新利用以隔离二氧化碳，等等。移除的假设阻碍了对北海其他可能性的考虑。与此同时，关于替代方案的辩论两极分化，人们倾向于关注个别案例，而不是整个北海（生态）系统。北海是一个多产的海洋，除了提供食物外，还支持石油和天然气开采以外的许多行业。风力发电基础设施的大量扩建正在进行中，并计划继续进行。需要考虑在它的使用寿命结束时会发生什么。其他人造建筑也在海里，比如沉船，为一些物种提供了避难所。DREAMS项目的目的是汇集有关人造结构对海洋生态系统的影响以及生态系统为人类提供的利益的所有现有信息。将对这些信息进行分析，并将其与生态系统模型相结合，以研究不同的退役方法如何导致不同的结果。特别地，项目将强调权衡，即为实现一个目标而采取的行动损害了我们实现另一个目标的能力。总体目标是提供全面的信息来支持决策，代表了从个人的、狭隘的研究到“大局”研究努力的转变，旨在解决重大的社会挑战，并说明海洋科学如何支持为社会提供广泛的利益。这项研究将包括收集和分析关于人造结构对海洋的影响的大量资料。分析结果将与最先进的生态系统模型相结合，以研究不同的退役方法如何导致不同的结果，以及这些结果对人们意味着什么。

Large amounts of hard infrastructure, such as rigs, were installed in the North Sea following the discovery of exploitable oil and gas in the 1970s. Following public outcry about attempts to dispose of the Brent Spar at sea in the 1990s, regulations were introduced that require oil and gas structures in the sea to be removed at the end of their useful lives. Much of the infrastructure in the North Sea is now at the end of its useful life, at least for the purposes for which it was installed, and is to be decommissioned. A large proportion of the cost of this is borne by taxpayers. Other approaches to decommissioning are possible. Elsewhere in the world redundant infrastructure has been left in situ to support wildlife or to limit seabed disturbance, relocated to form artificial reefs, repurposed to sequester CO2, and so on. The presumption of removal has held back consideration of alternative possibilities in the North Sea. At the same time, debate about alternatives is polarised, and there is a tendency to focus on individual cases rather than the whole North Sea (eco)system. The North Sea is a productive sea that, in addition to providing food, supports many industries other than the extraction of oil and gas. A large expansion in the amount of infrastructure being installed for wind generation is underway and planned to continue. Consideration needs to be given to what happens to this at the end of its useful life. Other man-made structures are also in the sea, such as wrecks, which provide havens for some species. The purpose of the DREAMS project is to bring together all available information about the effects of man-made structures on the marine ecosystem, and on the benefits that ecosystem provides for humans. This information will be analysed and combined with ecosystem models, to examine how different possible approaches to decommissioning lead to different outcomes. In particular the project will highlight trade-offs, where action taken to deliver one objective damages our ability to achieve a different objective. The overall aim is to provide comprehensive information to support decisions, representing a shift from individual, narrowly focused studies to a "big picture" research endeavor, designed to feed into addressing large social challenges and illustrate how marine science can underpin the provision of wide-ranging benefits to society. The research will involve the collection and analysis of large amounts of information concerning the effects of man-made structures in the sea. Results from analyses will be combined with state-of-the-art ecosystem models to examine how different approaches to decommissioning lead to different outcomes, and what those outcomes mean for people.