Marine artificial structures (MAS), such as oil and gas platforms and offshore wind farms, have a finite operational period and will eventually need to be decommissioned.
But, with current legislation for the northeast Atlantic requiring nearly all structures to be completely removed at end-of-life at significant financial cost, does the science support this as the best solution?
Dr Anaelle Lemasson has co-authored an article that suggests legislation forcing the removal of end-of-life offshore structures needs to be revised to allow other decommissioning options, such as 'rigs-to-reefs' repurposing, that could have environmental and socio-economic benefits.
Writing for Nature, the authors say that politics, rather than science, has been the driving force for decisions about how to decommission MAS.
In addition, they argue a review of decommissioning strategies "is urgently needed to ensure that governments make scientifically motivated decisions about the fate of oil rigs in their regions, rather than sleepwalking into default strategies that could harm the environment."
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