0:00:36 > 0:00:39Just beyond those islands is the North Sea,
0:00:39 > 0:00:42which means that between here and home,
0:00:42 > 0:00:45there's an awful lot of oil and gas.
0:00:50 > 0:00:53Our North Sea gas may be running out,
0:00:53 > 0:00:56but the Norwegians still have big reserves.
0:00:56 > 0:01:01So, like asking the neighbours for a cup of sugar, we've had to come here.
0:01:01 > 0:01:05This massive gas plant could be keeping you warm this winter,
0:01:05 > 0:01:10because it's going to be supplying up to a fifth of Britain's gas requirements.
0:01:12 > 0:01:14A fifth of the UK's gas -
0:01:14 > 0:01:21that's the equivalent of supplying the needs of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
0:01:24 > 0:01:31The gas lies 74 miles out to sea, nearly two miles below the waves.
0:01:31 > 0:01:37It's gathered by platforms sitting on the seabed, then drawn through pipes
0:01:37 > 0:01:40all the way to the processing plant here in Nyhamna.
0:01:42 > 0:01:45I'm meeting the plant director, Bernt Granas,
0:01:45 > 0:01:50to find out what happens before the gas is piped to us in Britain.
0:01:52 > 0:01:58First of all we have to get rid of liquids. And it's a process that starts in these huge pipes here.
0:01:58 > 0:02:02So when the gas comes ashore, it's not just pure gas.
0:02:02 > 0:02:07It's sand, it's gas, it's water and it's antifreeze.
0:02:07 > 0:02:09And how long does this whole process take?
0:02:09 > 0:02:14From the gas when it arrives here on the beach, until it's on its way to the UK, it's 10 minutes.
0:02:14 > 0:02:1910 minutes? And what about Norway, how much gas is used here?
0:02:19 > 0:02:22- Oh, we hardly use any gas at all. - So where do you get your energy?
0:02:22 > 0:02:26We have hydro-electric power and for almost anything here,
0:02:26 > 0:02:30and of course even this plant is running on hydro-electric power.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33So you've got a plant here that's just cleaning up gas for
0:02:33 > 0:02:37- export to Britain, but itself is powered by hydro-electric.- Yes.
0:02:39 > 0:02:41The Norwegians are fortunate.
0:02:41 > 0:02:46They can fulfil many of their energy needs with hydro-electricity,
0:02:46 > 0:02:48so they've hardly touched their gas.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51But in Britain, we've become addicted to the stuff,
0:02:51 > 0:02:55so now we're forced to go to extraordinary lengths to get it.
0:02:57 > 0:03:02The gas leaves the plant here and begins its mammoth journey
0:03:02 > 0:03:04all the way to Easington in Yorkshire.
0:03:04 > 0:03:06746 miles in length,
0:03:06 > 0:03:12this is the longest sub-sea pipeline in the world.
0:03:20 > 0:03:26- So this is it. I can hear it. - This is the gas you're hearing, gas going to UK,
0:03:26 > 0:03:2970 million standard cubic metres every day,
0:03:29 > 0:03:32making up one fifth of the gas need.
0:03:32 > 0:03:37And how on earth do you go about laying a pipeline of that length across a seabed?
0:03:37 > 0:03:40Well, it's quite impressive technology in a sense that
0:03:40 > 0:03:45it's actually in 12 metre lengths, welded together, one by one,
0:03:45 > 0:03:47and you put it on the seabed as you go,
0:03:47 > 0:03:50and in the duration of two summers, you can do it.
0:03:50 > 0:03:54I can hear this gas rushing through here at the moment -
0:03:54 > 0:03:56how many more years do we have?
0:03:56 > 0:04:00- Well, you have at least 40 more years.- And are you still looking for more fields?
0:04:00 > 0:04:02Always.
0:04:05 > 0:04:0840 years - that's not long.
0:04:08 > 0:04:14The world is facing up to the fact that we need alternative ways to harness energy.
0:04:16 > 0:04:21But perhaps we can find some solutions to our future energy needs
0:04:21 > 0:04:25using something else that we have in common with Norway,
0:04:25 > 0:04:27our very long coastlines.
0:04:29 > 0:04:31Wherever a river meets the sea,
0:04:31 > 0:04:35you get a mixture of saltwater and fresh water.
0:04:35 > 0:04:39The Norwegians' novel plan is to generate electricity
0:04:39 > 0:04:44using salt and fresh water via a process called osmosis.
0:04:48 > 0:04:54A good way to observe osmosis in action is to see how an egg
0:04:54 > 0:04:58can be pumped up in size when it is immersed in fresh water.
0:05:01 > 0:05:03Here are two ordinary hens' eggs.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06First of all, I've placed them both in vinegar
0:05:06 > 0:05:09to dissolve the shells away. What is left
0:05:09 > 0:05:13is a bag of eggy fluid in a membrane.
0:05:13 > 0:05:18All the shell has gone. Now, this one I've left like that as a control,
0:05:18 > 0:05:21so we can see how big it was to start with.
0:05:21 > 0:05:28The other egg I put in this glass of pure fresh water for 24 hours,
0:05:28 > 0:05:33and you can just see the difference in size.
0:05:33 > 0:05:34Just look at that.
0:05:34 > 0:05:39So the membrane outside the egg is a semi-permeable membrane -
0:05:39 > 0:05:40it allows water in,
0:05:40 > 0:05:44but it doesn't allow the other substances inside the egg out.
0:05:44 > 0:05:47So this is a good demonstration of osmosis.
0:05:47 > 0:05:51The pressure in this egg is now quite enormous.
0:06:00 > 0:06:05Water went in through my egg membrane, making it swell up.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08'Now, exactly the same thing would happen
0:06:08 > 0:06:11'if the fluid inside my egg was saltwater.
0:06:11 > 0:06:16'It would still swell up, because the fresh water is drawn inside
0:06:16 > 0:06:20'to dilute the most concentrated salty water.
0:06:20 > 0:06:25'The pressure increases inside the egg, and harnessing osmotic pressure
0:06:25 > 0:06:30'is the novel idea behind the Norwegians' power plant.'
0:06:33 > 0:06:35- Hello.- Hi.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39'I'm meeting Stein Erik Skilhagen.
0:06:39 > 0:06:44'He's created a model to show osmotic power in action.'
0:06:44 > 0:06:47We have three chambers with saltwater,
0:06:47 > 0:06:50and we have four chambers with fresh water.
0:06:50 > 0:06:55So we've got alternating chambers of fresh and saltwater, and each one is separated by a membrane.
0:06:55 > 0:06:59Yes, the pressure will increase and then, when it gets high enough,
0:06:59 > 0:07:02it has to evacuate somewhere, and that's where we have this system.
0:07:02 > 0:07:06- That's going to come out through these pipes here is it, and then turn our turbine?- Yeah.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15Inside Stein Erik's clever contraption
0:07:15 > 0:07:20are four chambers of fresh water and three chambers of saltwater,
0:07:20 > 0:07:24each separated by a special artificial membrane
0:07:24 > 0:07:26similar to the skin around an egg.
0:07:28 > 0:07:32Between the chambers, osmosis takes place, water forces its way
0:07:32 > 0:07:38through the membranes from the fresh water into the saltwater chambers,
0:07:38 > 0:07:42and that creates a pressure eventually forcing the excess
0:07:42 > 0:07:47water out through these pipes and hopefully turning our model turbine.
0:07:52 > 0:07:55Starting to get some drips coming through.
0:07:55 > 0:08:00Oh, look at that, off it goes, that's really impressive.
0:08:00 > 0:08:02And the water that comes out here,
0:08:02 > 0:08:06that is brackish water, mixture of sea water and fresh water.
0:08:06 > 0:08:08So that's spinning around nicely now,
0:08:08 > 0:08:12so if you were to attach a generator to this you could make electricity.
0:08:12 > 0:08:16We think this is going to be a very good way to produce new renewable energy.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22The pressure osmosis can produce is enormous.
0:08:22 > 0:08:28An osmotic power plant could harness energy equivalent
0:08:28 > 0:08:30to nearly a 400-foot waterfall.
0:08:30 > 0:08:35By exploiting this completely natural process, far more electricity could
0:08:35 > 0:08:40be generated than from a conventional water wheel driven by the same river.
0:08:44 > 0:08:49'The model may work, but scaling it up into a renewable resource
0:08:49 > 0:08:53'to rival wind power is a big challenge.
0:08:53 > 0:08:57'Full-scale power stations are still a long way off,
0:08:57 > 0:09:02'but for me this is really surprising and promising science.'
0:09:04 > 0:09:09If the Norwegian prototype works, then just imagine what that could mean for the UK.
0:09:09 > 0:09:13We could look forward to a time when we could produce
0:09:13 > 0:09:17clean, renewable energy from the fresh water and saltwater
0:09:17 > 0:09:20that's so abundant along our coastline.