E4 - Sustainable whole-life design methods

Offshore renewable energy systems have a limited operating life, consume significant raw materials and involve placing significant infrastructure in the oceans. Currently, designs are not influenced by considerations beyond the operating life, and few ORE facilities are reaching end of life so this issue has not yet been faced.

The oil and gas industry is facing major decommissioning costs borne partly by the taxpayer which could have been reduced or avoided if decommissioning, reuse or recycling was considered earlier in design.

There is a need to address these issues earlier in the ORE sector to learn from the lessons of the oil and gas industry. This will improve the long term cost profile of ORE developments and will increase the social and environmental acceptability of ORE.

Develop new component technologies, system design concepts and processes, that unlock whole life design improvements that extend into recycling, reuse, repair, decommissioning and/or repower.

Reduced whole life cost - economic and environmental.

Higher social acceptance - contrast with oil and gas experiences.

Active research projects:

• LiftWEC H2020 Grant 851885: The LiftWEC project involves the development of a novel wave energy converter whose primary coupling with the waves is through the generation of hydrodynamic lift on a rotating hydrofoil. This will be achieved by a combination of numerical/physical modelling and desk-based studies of the structural design, the operational & maintenance requirements and the environmental/social impacts of the technology.
• Disposal of End-of-Life composites: This project covers the disposal of marine composites which may arise from marine sports equipment, boats and ships, submarines, marine renewable energy systems or offshore oil exploration and exploitation industries. Consideration is given to the avoidance of waste by appropriate design, manufacturing, marketing and maintenance through life.
• HOME-Offshore: Holistic Operation and Maintenance for Energy from Offshore Wind Farms (EPSRC, EP/P009743/1): This project investigates the use of predictive modelling, robotics, advanced sensors and big data techniques to target interventions and thus improve safety, and reduce the cost, of the operation and maintenance of offshore wind farms. This will also help address the increasing shortage of skilled workers in this field.
• Resource Recovery from Waste: Resource Recovery from Waste is a collaborative research programme engaging academia, industry, government and the general public to develop knowledge and tools to reduce pressure on natural resources and create value from wastes. It was set up to deliver the environmental science needed to support a radical change in the waste management landscape. With six projects at leading UK universities, the programme is building tools to model the multiple dimensions of value whilst also developing enabling biogeochemical technologies for new supply chains.
• Development and demonstration of durable biobased composites for a marine environment (SeaBioComp): SeaBioComp is a collaborative project with the aim to develop and produce novel bio-based thermoplastic composite materials and the analytical protocols to evaluate long-term durability and reduced ecological impact on the marine environment.