Today, Angolan Agency for Oil, Gas and Biofuels (ANPG) has taken a significant step towards environmental protection by implementing a cutting-edge TECH-ECOLOGIA solution developed by National Space Programme Management Office (GGPEN) for spill monitoring. The President of ANPG’s Board of Directors, Paulino Jerónimo, and other top officials visited GGPEN’s office in Talatona, Luanda, as part of the contractual agreement between ANPG and the Agency.
This innovative solution strengthens ANPG’s role as a regulator and supervisor of the nation’s oil and gas sector by enhancing its ability to promptly detect and respond to spill incidents in the Angolan offshore areas. By utilising satellite imagery, ANPG can now monitor vast oceanic regions at a significantly reduced cost. Furthermore, TECH-ECOLOGIA offers ANPG the flexibility to monitor specific oil blocks daily, weekly, or on-demand, providing comprehensive spill monitoring reports and granting access to an online monitoring tool. This valuable resource furnishes essential data on the frequency and scale of areas affected by spills.
The environmental impact of oil spills resulting from oil-related activities cannot be overstated, as they pose a significant risk to oceanic ecosystems and marine life, in alignment with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 14 of the 2030 Agenda. Furthermore, these spills jeopardise the blue economy. It has been estimated that, on average, 6.69 tonnes of oil are spilt for every one million tonnes produced in Africa.
Acknowledging the need to address this challenge and monitor spill incidents in African seas, focusing on Angola, GGPEN developed TECH-ECOLOGIA under the auspices of the Ministry of Telecommunications, Information Technologies, and Social Communication (MINTTICS) as part of the National Space Programme’s initiatives. The solution uses satellite radar images to detect, monitor and alert on the occurrence of possible oil spills across Angola’s offshore rigs. GGPEN developed this solution by leveraging the images captured by optical sensors at different electromagnetic spectrum ranges, including the visible, near-infrared, shortwave infrared, and thermal infrared regions.
source:https://africanews.space/