NOC Innovations

No this isn’t a WW2 bomb. What is it? It’s a simplified representation of an Underwater Autonomous Vehicle (or AUV)! Over the last 12 months or so I’ve become more involved with the AUV’s developed here at the National Oceanography Centre, particularly our AUTOSUB Long Range underwater vehicle which has some interesting, and now well proven, capabilities. What I find most interesting just generally though about AUVs is the way they can provide us with a better understanding of the ocean than ever before and go to places, such as under ice for weeks, or close to the seabed at great depths (in the case of AUTOSUB up to 6000m) where they can work reliably on long missions. Years ago, I figure these very hostile environments would have been both very dangerous and expensive to explore? Perhaps even more impressive, to me anyway, from an environmental perspective, there is the Carbon reduction benefit. The rechargeable battery powered AUV I mentioned earlier for example has the demonstrated capability of being able to operate without needing a ship. It can be launched and recovered from shore instead. A recent mission required it to undertake a 400km round trip commute in addition to completing its survey work where it captured many thousands of images of the seabed. Even when more remote locations do require autonomous underwater vehicles to be transported by ship fuel requirements can be reduced significantly since a fleet of autonomous underwater vehicles can work together to survey large areas independently of the ship using much less energy. So where is this all heading? Well, these vehicles have already proven themselves as indispensable for ocean research, monitoring and surveying and with continued advancements in AI, processing power and vehicle development its easy to see a lot more of these vehicles are going to be used in many new offshore applications. I think that overall that means more monitoring and better understanding of our oceans which is so vital to us as we face climate challenges. One final though is that from a linkedIn angle, and for those searching for the expanding career areas of the future, marine autonomy may well be worth investigating further!

Curiosity needs a topic. Some focus. The lightning rod on the town hall roof. My current subject? Blue Carbon: you had my curiosity, but now you have my attention. Blue Carbon benefits immediately from both an excellent name and marketable image, catchy and capable of conjuring idyllic images of seagrass, kelp and mangroves. Such traits can be a boon to engage people in marine conservation but has also helped bring the focus of the financial markets, of the carbon credit world: if this is to be the eye of Sauron or a bit fugayzi remains to be seen. This aside, it is clear Blue Carbon has great potential and but also real challenges. Despite the need for speed, these challenges must be addressed properly, and I believe with science and industry working together. I am not a Blue Carbon expert. But here at NOC, our scientists have a very particular set of skills and knowledge. I’m going to sit down with our scientists to pose some of my key questions: 🐙 What role can/does Blue Carbon have in the blue economy? 🐙 Is Blue Carbon truly one of the climate avengers here to help save the planet? 🐙 What are the challenges of measuring/valuing/quantifying Blue Carbon - how do we know what we are gonna get? 🐙 What is the role of Science, of NOC? 🐙 What of the future: - Are we moving quickly enough? - How do we deliver? - Is it time to do, or do not?   As I go along, I’ll try to share things I find curious, important, or hopeful - hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things as we look for practical solutions to the climate and biodiversity challenges we face. In the meantime, it is clear to me already that blue carbon requires a realistic approach around the current hurdles of implementation, policy and robust evidence collection. However, collaborations, openness and informed strategies can unlock Blue Carbon’s potential for climate mitigation. Where we go from here, is up to us.   As an added bonus for this post, I’m going leave you with a choice of two questions, depending on your mood (you can of course do both!): 1. Serious question - am I asking the right questions? 2. Less serious question – there are 12 nods to movies in this Blue Carbon post, did you spot them all?