GreeningOfOil.com

BP buried in offers of new technology

 June 4, 2010 10:21

31,600 ideas received by BP so far

The technology used for the containment cap operation was proven and already in use by the oil industry.

But new ideas are pouring into the company on a daily basis, largely through emails and an official help phone line set up on BP’s Houston campus (Westlake 3) to receive general assistance calls and “alternative response technology, services or products to BP for use in the Gulf spill cleanup.” Members of the press also have been the recipient of ideas, presumably to help gain the attention of beleaguered BP officials.

Those ideas include everything from using oyster mushrooms as dispersants to bombs to Smart Sponge® technology.

Daren Beaudo, a BP press officer for Deepwater Horizon Incident Response, told Greening of Oil June 4 that BP has received “over 110,000 calls” to its helpline, (281) 366-5511.

“Of those, over 31,600 have been suggestions and ideas on how to resolve the incident and over 8,000 people have submitted their ideas on paper. Of these, 235 are now being processed through to stage 3 — stage 4 is the field testing stage. Ten percent of those are focused on stopping the leak, the remainder is directed at spill response,” Beaudo said via email.

Eighty people currently staff the call center, he said.

As to how the process works, Beaudo said, “Suggestions may be submitted by telephone or email. Proposals are reviewed for technical feasibility and application. Feasible solutions are forwarded for additional consideration. A reply is sent via email or fax to each caller informing them of the outcome of the technical review. Callers whose ideas are considered feasible are advised by email that BP will contact them if and when their support is needed.

“All submitters are advised that their solution may have already been proposed by another party or attempted. Given this quantity of technical proposals suggested by industry professionals and the public, it is taking some time to technically review each one.”