NDC's research fellow in marine ecology Dr Alethea Madgett was featured on BBC Radio 4's Rare Earth programme for the episode ‘Can an oil rig be a nature reserve?’.

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The National Decommissioning Centre’s research fellow in marine ecology Dr Alethea Madgett was featured on BBC Radio 4’s Rare Earth programme on Friday, 28 June, for the episode ‘Can an oil rig be a nature reserve?’.

You can listen to the discussion about what should be done with oil and gas structures as they near the end of their productive lives and the ecosystems that can form around them at around 22:30 minutes into the programme here – Rare Earth – Can an oil rig be a nature reserve? – BBC Sounds

Episode description

What should we do with our old oil rigs? Can the relics of the fossil fuel age be good for wildlife? Helen Czerski and Tom Heap investigate the future for the steel and concrete that’s fuelled the modern age. Helen visits a highly specialist scrapyard on Teeside which dismantles oil rigs brought ashore at the end of their lives. Tom and Helen discuss whether the rules on what happens to old oil and gas installations in the North Sea should be relaxed to allow some to be turned into artificial reefs. They hear from Professor Matt Frost from Plymouth Marine Laboratory and INSITE, an international project investigating the future for undersea structures; Dr Alethea Madgett a marine ecologist who’s researching how old rigs can be used in nature restoration; and Ricky Thomson from the industry body Offshore Energies UK.

Notes for Editors