Kailem Donovan, 37, from Middlesborough, England, works on oil rigs in the North and Baltic seas. Donovan works 12-hour shifts but gets three weeks of holiday every three weeks working on the rig. He ...

Try as so many private and government organizations might, switching everywhere on Earth over to clean, renewable energy — including some strange sources being explored — is still a long way away.

Oil rigs, particularly the offshore type, are one of the most fascinating parts of the global energy industry. How do they work? How big can they get? Do they float on water? It's not surprising that ...