Using Biorock

Today, I learned of a new way people are trying to help coral reefs around the world. I was shocked because I had never heard of it before. It is called Biorock technology, and I think it could save the endangered coral reefs.

First off, it’s important to understand how Biorock works. Basically, it is made up of three main components: the skeleton, the wires, and the solar panels. The ‘skeleton’ is really just a frame made of a conductive metal, such as steel. The energy collected by the solar panels sends a very low voltage electric current (not harmful to animals and humans) through the wires and skeleton, causing a process called electrolysis. During this process, the minerals that are dissolved in seawater, like calcium and magnesium, gather around the exposed steel frame and harden. These minerals turn into a sort of limestone structure, perfect for coral to grow on. Not only this, but the electrolysis process also divides the water molecules into its main components, creating lots of dissolved oxygen. This attracts many other organisms than coral, like fish, which also benefit from the coral ecosystem.

Now that we understand how the Biorock process works, we can talk about why it should be used. First of all, it assures and quickens the coral’s growth by a considerable amount. Corals assisted by Biorock can grow 2 to 10 times faster than regular corals and have a 16 to 50 times better chance of surviving severe coral bleaching. The technology also ensures the coral’s survival against stress caused by the environment, such as climate change and natural disasters.

You might not have known this, but coral reefs actually serve as a buffer from waves and storms coming in from the ocean, helping to protect the shores from land erosion. In fact, coral reefs reduce the total wave energy by 97% and the total wave height by 84%. In conventional methods of coral restoration, coral was grown on large concrete blocks, and the coral reefs couldn’t slow down the waves as usual. Instead of slowing the large, strong waves by friction, the concrete reefs would break and collapse from the sheer force of the water. On the other hand, Biorock tech is built on an iron skeleton. When a wave passes, water goes through and slows down, leaving the reef with minimal damage. To prove this, Biorock structures have resisted some of the strongest hurricanes in the Caribean with just some minor damage. Speaking of damage, Biorock can regrow in record time when it is subject to breakage or other destruction. This is because the electrolysis continues to happen in the core, causing the limestone structure to continue growing stronger with age.

A Biorock is powered by solar panels on the surface of the water. This is great because solar power is 100% sustainable. Since sunlight is not a tangible object, it can not be overused, unlike other energy sources such as burning fossil fuels. Plus, the electrolysis process doesn’t use much energy at all. So little that you wouldn’t even be able to feel it if you touched the exposed metal skeleton with your bare hands! In fact, an entire Biorock reef can be powered by the same amount of energy used to power two air conditioners.

Money doesn’t grow on trees, so it’s important to factor in the price of this technology. And we’re in luck because it’s way cheaper (while still being more effective) than conventional methods used by the Government of the United-States (NOAA). The methods currently used by NOAA to restore dead or destroyed coral reefs after the 2002 boat grounding in the Florida Keys were valued at about 1,622 to 56,671 dollars per square meter, while Biorock is about 1.60 to 8.85 dollars per square meter.

It can seem like Biorock is too go to be true, but it’s really not. I genuinely hope to see more and more organizations start to use this method rather than other less cost-effective ones. I did the math and, if we (for some reason) needed to restore all the coral reefs in the world, it would cost an approximate 2.1 billion dollars (not counting the labour involved). This is crazy, considering my city (Ottawa) recently launched its light rail system for the exact same price. The light rail system benefits only my city. Healthy coral reefs benefit the entire world.

Visit Reef Ecologic to learn more about what they do for the reefs!

Image from Tianwen CHEN on Flickr

Sources:
MNN,
Hindustan Times on Youtube,
Journal of Marine Science and Engineering,
Global Coral Reef Alliance,
Global Coral Reef Alliance (Biorock),
Wikipedia,
ResearchGate,
Transforming the Global Biosphere by Elliot Maynard,
Electrolysis by Janis Kleperis and Vladimir Linkov