The use of robotic equipment and techniques is becoming more prevalent in the Energy Industry. This is for increased safety, cost-effectiveness or the ability to access difficult/normally inaccessible locations. What is often not reported or recognised is the positive environmental effects with respect to the reduction of the carbon footprint affiliated with the relevant scope. This reduction in carbon footprint is achieved in several ways; by launching from the Facility, not requiring a support vessel with extensive crew, enabling remote inspection to allow the number of personnel required offshore to be reduced and removing the need for divers. This paper presents case studies which utilise robotic solutions, or in some cases, alternative/smaller robotic equipment is used, focusing on the inspection of subsea structures and discusses the associated reduction in carbon footprint.
Anna Maria Greenwood (Wed,) studied this question.