Switching from fossil fuels to renewable energy is key to international energy transition efforts and the move toward net zero. For many nations, this requires decommissioning of hundreds of oil and gas infrastructure in the marine environment. Current international, regional and national legislation largely dictates that structures must be completely removed at end-of-life although, increasingly, alternative decommissioning options are being promoted and implemented. Yet, a paucity of real-world case studies describing the impacts of decommissioning on the environment make decision-making with respect to which option(s) might be optimal for meeting in- ternational and regional strategic environmental targets challenging. To address this gap, we draw together international expertise and judgment from marine environmental scientists on marine artificial structures as an alternative source of evidence that explores how different decommissioning options might ameliorate pressures that drive environmental status toward (or away) from environmental objectives. Synthesis reveals that for 37 United Nations and Oslo-Paris Commissions (OSPAR) global and regional environmental targets, experts consider repurposing or abandoning individual structures, or abandoning multiple structures across a region, as the op- tions that would most strongly contribute toward targets. This collective view suggests complete removal may not be best for the environment or society. However, different decommissioning options act in different ways and make variable contributions toward environmental targets, such that policy makers and managers would likely need to prioritise some targets over others considering political, social, economic, and ecological contexts. Current policy may not result in optimal outcomes for the environment or society.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2023
The perissodactyls from the UNESCO World Heritage site of Messel (MP11; around 47 Ma) are among the most well-known fossils from this site, and belong to at least five different genera: three equoids (Propalaeotherium, Eurohippus, and Hallensia) and two tapiromorphs (Lophiodon and Hyrachyus). Here, we investigated by X-ray microtomography at the DTHE (MateIS Laboratory, Lyon) the anatomy of three articulated skeletons from the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences collection: two specimens of Eurohippus messelensis, as well as the only accessible skeleton of Hallensia matthesi. The segmented 3D models allow us to visualize for the first time some cranial, dental and postcranial features that were previously concealed. Surprisingly, the tooth rows of the two specimens of E. messelensis show two different morphologies. One is typical of E. messelensis whereas the other shows all the diagnostic characters of E. parvulus expressed by Franzen (2006). However, based on the monograph on equoids from Messel by Franzen (2007), E. messelensis was only recognized in Messel, whereas E. parvulus was known from several other localities, notably in the Geiseltal, but not in Messel. We thus suggest that E. parvulus may have also been present in Messel, which raises the question of their potential synonymy. Finally, the preservation of the skeleton of Hallensia matthesi does not permit to observe the fine anatomy of the skeleton, but still permits to discuss important characters such as the number of fingers.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2025 OA
