A new laboratory to develop technology related to the sea is being developed by research centres in Oporto and Faro, with European funding of around €5.3 million.
The TEC4Sea laboratory, created by the Institute of Systems and Computers, Technology and Science Engineering (INESC TEC) and the Centre for Technological Research of the Algarve (CINTAL), intends to "train highly qualified human resources," - also known as 'people.'
Augustin Olivier from INESC TEC, said this pioneer laboratory will allowing an increase in the work in this area, to acquire new ways of working and to reach domains "hitherto very distant."
This laboratory, destined to be based at the little-used commercial dock area in Faro, is said to be a plus for companies as it provides them with "logistical, technical and human support throughout the development, testing and validation process and streamlines the transfer of technology to the market," according to Olivier.
Traditional sea-related industries such as fishing, aquaculture, transport, construction, ship repair and ports will be serviced as well as emerging industries such as deep sea mining, high technology products and services, renewable energy and offshore aquaculture, biotechnology and maritime safety.
Notice how Olivier slipped in ‘deep sea mining’ there, before adding that the objectives are to "increase the competitiveness of companies operating in these sectors," and to "facilitate the technological capacity of companies."
‘The extension of the Portuguese continental shelf will enable the area of the country to grow to around four million square kilometres, 40 times the current area of Portugal,’ reads a statement from INESC TEC released today.
According to the information note, Portugal has the third largest European economic zone, "we have a national sea so vast and so deep. The truth is that 30% of the European seabed remains to be explored," concluded Augustin Olivier, unprepared for the media attention and ecological backlash that inevitably will result from this initiative as it includes ‘deep sea mining,’ a hugely controversial fledgling industry that already is attracting large corporates due to the activity largely being unregulated and with potentially high profits.
In April this year, environmental campaigner and activist Laurinda Seabra said to the Portugal Resident that, “It is our opinion that the Portuguese government has a vision to transform Portugal into an ocean state by promoting the ocean economy as one of its main pillars of development. This strategy is being driven by various Portuguese lobbying organisations, such as the Gulbenkian Foundation (Oceans Initiative), the Fundação Oceano Azul (Blue Ocean Foundation), Forum Oceano XXI, various universities, and many other bodies - not to mention private interests as well.”
“We can expect major campaigns brainwashing the population with a wide range of fictitious benefits for the country and for the Portuguese people. It is important for people to understand the implications of deep-sea mining and the impact the ocean environment."
Not content with the destruction and pollution of the earth’s land mass, companies now want to move on to denude the ocean floor with scant regard for marine life. Portugal, as ever, will be a naive and willing partner and already is taking steps to cosy up to mining companies while preparing the script with which to placate the public.
The government tried this with oil exploration but its financial claims were so ludicrously adrift, its concession contracts so clearly one-sided, that environmental organisation had no trouble at all in trashing the State’s claims that ‘oil is good for Portugal.’
The oil debate continues to be played out in the media and in parliament but while this is going on, companies, the government and its agencies quietly are preparing to divide Portugal's ocean areas into parcels and lease them off, in much the same way as it did for oil and gas, in a game that only company shareholders will win.
This is a copy of the Press Release from INESC TEC:
5.3M€ - THE GREATEST PORTUGUESE INVESTMENT IN A TECHNOLOGICAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR THE BLUE ECONOMY
5,3M€ is the value of the greatest investment in a technological infrastructure, pioneer at European level, to develop technologies for the sea environment. It is called “TEC4sea” and is a unique platform targeted at research, development, test and validation of technologies that will leverage the sea economy.
The TEC4SEA infrastructure has been created by Instituto de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computadores, Tecnologia e Ciência (INESC TEC) and Centro de Investigação Tecnológica do Algarve (CINTAL); it includes a number of laboratories across the country with the goal of developing technologies to be used in the sea environment, increasing the technical capacity of companies and forming highly qualified personnel.
Which type of companies will benefit from this platform?
“On the one hand, the traditional industries, such as fisheries and aquaculture, fish processing, transport, ship building and repair, and ports. On the other hand, emerging industries, mainly deep sea mining, deep sea oil&gas exploitation, Hi-Tec products and services, offshore renewable energy sources, offshore aquaculture, biotechnology, maritime surveillance and security”, explained Augustin Olivier, member of the INESCTEC team involved in the TEC4sea infrastructure.
The objectives for the traditional industries include increasing the competitiveness of the companies that operate on the abovementioned areas. In the case of emerging industries, TEC4sea will raise the technological capacity of the companies.
“This infrastructure brings an added value to the companies, since it provides logistic, technical and human support along the development, test and validation process and eases the transfer of technology to the market”, added Augustin Olivier.
TEC4sea has laboratories from Porto (in the north) to Faro (in the south). In Porto, INESCTEC has made available six laboratories to support this infrastructure, but TEC4sea wants the port of Leixões to become its centre of gravity in the northern region of Portugal. Moreover, CINTAL offers its laboratories in Algarve.
What is the importance of TEC4sea in the Portuguese sea economy?
The size of the Portuguese Continental Platform means that the area of the country will increase up to about 4 million km2, which represents more than 40 times the present area of Portugal. In addition, Portugal has the third European economic zone and a privileged geostrategic position in the crossing of important maritime routes.
“We have a so vast and deep ocean platform, that we only need to truly start exploiting it. The truth is that 30% of the European ocean floor are still waiting to be exploited”, concluded Augustin Olivier.
The TEC4SEA platform is open to other entities. The infrastructure website (www.tec4sea.com) will briefly provide information for those that want to join.
For additional information: Joana Desport Coelho
Serviço Comunicação
INESC TEC
Campus da FEUP
Rua Dr Roberto Frias
4200-465 Porto
Portugal
T +351 22 209 4297
M +351 919 119 721
joana.d.coelho@inesctec.pt
www.inesctec.pt
Deep sea mining - environmental impacts
Research shows that polymetallic nodule fields are hotspots of abundance and diversity for a highly vulnerable abyssal fauna. Because deep sea mining is a relatively new field, the complete consequences of full scale mining operations on this ecosystem are unknown. However, some researchers have said they believe that removal of parts of the sea floor will result in disturbances to the benthic layer, increased toxicity of the water column and sediment plumes from tailings. Removing parts of the sea floor could disturb the habitat of benthic organisms, with unknown long-term effects. Aside from the direct impact of mining the area, some researchers and environmental activists have raised concerns about leakage, spills and corrosion that could alter the mining area’s chemical makeup.
Among the impacts of deep sea mining, sediment plumes could have the greatest impact. Plumes are caused when the tailings from mining (usually fine particles) are dumped back into the ocean, creating a cloud of particles floating in the water. Two types of plumes occur: near bottom plumes and surface plumes. Near bottom plumes occur when the tailings are pumped back down to the mining site. The floating particles increase the turbidity, or cloudiness, of the water, clogging filter-feeding apparatuses used by benthic organisms. Surface plumes cause a more serious problem. Depending on the size of the particles and water currents the plumes could spread over vast areas. The plumes could impact zooplankton and light penetration, in turn affecting the food web of the area.
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