FOCUS: Carbon (sequestration, reduction, reuse/integration, drawdown)

OVERVIEW: GRoW Oyster Reefs’ biomimetic reef substrates are modular and mimic natural reefs in their form, material, and performance. They are fabricated using our patented CaCO3 concrete mix, +/- 85% calcium carbonate, formulated to closely resemble the mature oyster shell, with variations based on the analysis of the skeletal structure of other calcitic marine organisms. Providing a porous infrastructure with interstitial spaces at many scales, they are designed to jump-start reefs, facilitating the long-term recruitment and survival of embryonic oysters, corals and other reef-building organisms, and the rapid recruitment of non-reef building organisms from crabs to young fish, increasing biodiversity. The oyster, a keystone species, in decline by 85% since the 1850’s, has been protecting coastlines around the world for thousands of years. GRoW Oyster Reefs’ products work with nature's reef-builders to construct self-healing coastal defense infrastructures, attenuating wave energy and sequestering carbon. Our patented modular reef building products can be deployed to protect shorelines and restore aquatic ecosystems in intertidal and sub-tidal zones, working with, not against nature, producing self-healing infrastructures, attenuating wave energy and sequestering carbon, that ensure long term resilience, for the same price as rip-rap. Based on the undeniable principle that a healthy ocean is a prerequisite for a healthy planet, recent innovations include the design of new artificial reef substrates for use offshore in deep water, attracting cold water corals and sponges, de-acidifying the water, enhancing biodiversity.  GRoW Oyster Reefs’ biomimetic concrete mix and substrate prototypes have been validated in 12 paid Pilot projects in coastal and estuarine waters from Maine to the Gulf of Mexico, underwater for periods of more than one year and up to 7 years. Oyster reefs can sequester 1.8mT/acre/year, compared to a mature terrestrial forest that sequesters 0.8mT/acre/year. Some estimates, published recently, claim that oyster reefs and associated wetlands can sequester up to five times more carbon than tropical forests. Uniquely, GRoW reef building materials can be used to produce a hybrid vegetated marine habitat, with up to 1,000 oysters per +/- 175kg of calcium carbonate rich concrete, and abundant seagrasses, after one year, providing localised mass burial of excess organic carbon. Ocean acidification impacts aquatic ecosystems by making it more difficult for calcifying organisms to form shells. In typical concrete, sand accounts for 40% of included material. Sand mining has a significant negative environmental impact. GRoW omits sand entirely, replacing it with Calcium Carbonate rich particulates to provide early-stage nutrition for embryonic oysters or other calcitic organisms. Schmidt Marine Technology Partners are currently funding increased production capacity, with GRoW products specifically designed to support and protect submerged aquatic vegetation, for multi-year testing of carbon burial and nitrogen reduction potential. Work addressing the design and fabrication of products working at the intersection of carbon sequestration, ocean alkalinity enhancement and ecosystem restoration is currently funded by the NSF through their SBIR, Small Business Innovation Research program, for a Phase One Project leading to a second phase in 2025. 

WEBSITE: GrowOysterReefs.com