Striking a Balance Index

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3. Protecting the environment Our Strategic Objective To achieve continual improvement in the industry's offshore environmental performance and to develop continually our knowledge of the environmental impact of our operations. Through long-term goal setting, we will actively promote technological innovation to enable step changes in environmental performance. We will adopt the discipline of independently verified Environmental Management Systems in all our operations in order to drive these improvements in a transparent manner. Context The switch to gas and its contribution to UK meeting national green house gas targets The switch from coal to gas improves environmental and generating performance. Figure 17 Switch from coal to gas improves environmental efficiency Figure 18 Actual CO2 emissions These two charts show CO2 emissions from power generation over the period in which many electricity generators switched from coal to gas. Whilst total electricity production has increased significantly over this period, emissions have clearly declined, illustrating the lower environmental impact of gas and the higher generating efficiencies achieved. The industry and marine pollution The offshore industry accounts for just 1% of marine pollution in the North Sea. Most contaminants entering the sea come from the land run-off and derive from domestic, industrial and agricultural sources. Figure 19 The industry and marine pollution Source: Safer Ships, Cleaner Seas Report by Lord Donaldson CM2560 May 1994 Data from 1990 UN Report The State of the Marne Environment - UNEP Regional Seas Reports and Studies No. 115. Data covers all North Sea. Marine based environmental impact sources Since the introduction of water based muds for drilling, the offshore industry's environmental impact has become very small compared to the impact of other activities Figure 20 Marine based environmental impact sources Subject Impact Index Remarks Fisheries 12.24 - 62.4 Mainly beam trawling Offshore oil and gas (before 1993) approx. 350 Caused by former discharge of oil based muds Sand extraction (future estimate) 148 - 480 Depending infrastructure works Sand extraction (present) 12 - 36 Base case Pipes and cables <1 - 3   Military activity <1   Shipping <1   Offshore oil and gas (since 1993) 0.005 - 0.43 Only water based muds permitted Source: Netherlands Institute for North Sea research (NIOZ) Macrobenthos of the Dutch Continental Shelf, May 2000. 'Impact Index' has been calculated from the recovery rate of species in the ecosystem. Oil discharges and spills into the North Sea from all sources This table puts in context the amount of oil entering the North Sea annually from artificial and natural sources, including the offshore oil and gas industry Figure 21 Oil discharges and spills into the North Sea from all sources Source Tonnes X 1000 Land based discharges 24 - 76 Illegal discharges and spills from ships 15 - 60 Swage sludge, industrial waste, dredging 4 - 22 Atmospheric deposition 7 - 15 Offshore oil and gas 12 Coastal refineries 2 Legal discharges from ships 1 - 2 Oil terminals and reception facilities 1 Natural seepage 1 Source: Stagg et al: The effects of produced water on hydrocarbon levels on P45501A monooxygenase activity in fish larvae in the Northern North Sea (based on 1994 data.) Figure 22 1999 Reported oil spills in UK waters Source: DETR Advisory Committee on Oil Pollution at Sea, 1999 Atmospheric emissions UKOOA members' atmospheric emissions for 1998 as a percentage of total emissions in the UK in 1998 (1999 data not available). Figure 23 Atmospheric emissions Gas UK total emissions 1998* (tonnes) UKOOA total emissions 1998(tonnes) UKOOA percentage of UK total emissions % CO² 573,000,000 24,770,465 4.3 Methane 2,640,000 87,151 3.3 NOx 1,930,000 73,941 3.8 SOx 1,620,000 12,198 0.8 VOCs 1,780,000 184,474 10.4 *Source: UKOOA and DETR National Air Emissions Database, 1998 (1999 data not available) Waste disposal routes: offshore compared to onshore Almost half of offshore waste is recycled or re-used, a much higher proportion than by industry onshore. Figure 24 Waste disposal routes: offshore compared to onshore Route Onshore % refers to all onshore sources (industry & domestic) Offshore % Return to vendor 0.0 0.1 Incineration 7.6 0.5 Landfill 82.4 28.4 Recycle/reuse 10.0 47.8 Other 0.0 23.2 Source: UKOOA Environment Report 1999