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Lir Resources recognises the importance of understanding the carbon footprint produced during the lifetime of a major offshore gas development and the necessity for its reduction to net zero. Therefore Lir, in collaboration with emerging energy consultants Carbon Benchmarking, has completed Carbon Intensity Modelling on several gas development scenarios in the East Irish Sea. In this case, Carbon Intensity (CI) is a measure of carbon emission against a produced barrel of oil equivalent (kgCO₂e/boe).

Lir is now able to compare estimates of CO₂ and fugitive methane emissions for a range of its East Irish Sea production scenarios. It has identified the primary causes and is developing processes to eradicate both emissions. In the base scenario, CI has been modelled for a subsea gas development with transport of gas to the UK National Transmission System (NTS) via existing infrastructure, including the PipeLine End Manifold (PLEM). This base CI estimation is further broken down into “Scopes”: Scope One is an estimation of emissions from reservoir to wellhead, and Scope Two includes reservoir to the Morecambe processing gate.

Following on from this, Lir Resources is modelling the CI for the same gas development, but this time with an innovative on site processing scheme of platform generated hydrogen, using a steam methane reformation module and sequestration of CO₂.

In the current environmental and commercial conditions, having an understanding of a project's Carbon Intensity, enabling CI benchmarking and a design to engineer emissions to net zero, will be crucial in securing investment, regulatory consent and social license. In the East Irish Sea development scenarios modelled for Lir, estimates of CI are significantly lower than those for gas field developments of a comparable size and nature on the UKCS. When on site hydrogen generation and CO₂ sequestration are introduced, preliminary modelling indicates that the goal of net zero emissions is realistic and achievable. Lir believes that Carbon Intensity modelling is a key component on the path to meeting the UK Net Zero 2050 target.

For more information please contact Lir Resources via our website or email.