Trailer 1: The spirit of research at the Barents Sea, Norway
Trailer 2: Struggling through the days at the Barents Sea, Norway
Synopsis
In November the Barents Sea is rough, cold and above all dark. The scientists here aim to revolutionize oil and gas production in terms of environmental friendliness and costs.
The documentary “One Microbe At A Time” shows how much effort goes into such an expedition, what problems arise, how hard the work is on the ship and, above all, the spirit of research with which the project is approached.
Services
- Daily on deck as videographer
- Actioncam use
- Interviews
- Social media content
- Follower building
- Social media analysis
- Editing
- Video in various aspect ratios
- M.Sc. Geology as a research assistant in the laboratory
- Participation in conferences
Detail
Europe depends on the import of 96% of its oil and gas consumption from outside the EU. Our oil comes from countries where we cannot influence human rights, fair work and environmental protection. We finance countries like Russia, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Algeria who are not acting according to our European values.
The “Prospectomics” project is funded by the EU and aims to revolutionize oil and gas production in terms of environmental friendliness and costs, and thus also to promote this unfortunately still relevant energy source in Europe, within the framework of our laws and values. Conventional development of new oil fields requires countless test wells several kilometers deep, severely affecting the seabed ecosystem before even finding the first drop of oil.
By examining near-surface microbes, Prospectomics hopes to learn about the oil and gas situation beneath the surface. Certain geomicrobiological techniques have just recently become affordable for large-scale use. You would only have to sample 2 meters of seabed from the ship instead of erecting drilling rigs to penetrate kilometers deep into the seabed. This geomicrobiological approach would protect the environment and financially enable funding within the EU, thereby avoiding our dependence on other countries.
Of course, researchers would also like to see oil production to be stopped immediately, but even the most optimistic forecasts assume that we will be dependent on it for at least another 30 years. The report accompanies the scientists on their 2-week trip to the Barents Sea to take the first samples for their analyses.
The mission
Barents Sea, Norway
On board the H.U. Sverdrup II, I accompanied the Prospectomics research team for 2 weeks and was at the same time videographer, content creator and research assistant.
The aim was to raise public and scientific awareness of the project and its relevance for European oil and gas supply. The legendary hardships that the researchers undertook here were to be communicated as clearly as possible to a target group that is not as deeply immersed in the subject matter as the researchers themselves.
With interviews, daily impressions and a bit of wit we achieved a stir especially in front of the EU Commission! These 30+ contributions are the cornerstone for the following 40min reportage of the entire trip.
Thanks to Dr. Jens Kallmeyer
I can only thank the project manager, Dr. Jens Kallmeyer, several times, who did everything in his power to get me to the GeoForschungsZentrum and then to take me on board the ship. It was one of the most, if not the most, amazing experiences of my entire life so far.