An exciting new initiative from the U.K. promises to improve biodiversity, create habitats for sea creatures, and promote community discussions on renewable energy and the environment through the placement of Reef Cubes at Falmouth Harbor, reported Renewable Energy Magazine.
The project comes from the Gwynt Glas floating offshore wind farm in the Celtic Sea, per Renewable Energy. The Gwynt Glas project team worked alongside three additional organizations — marine conservation charities Sea-Changers and Our Only World and technology startup Arc Marine — to install 14 Reef Cubes in the harbor's waters this past May.
Reef Cubes, Renewable Energy explained, "are designed to regenerate fragile marine ecosystems [by] accelerating reef creation and repairing ecosystems." The plastic-free cubes, developed using recyclable materials along with sand, can ensure that necessary offshore structures such as wind turbines can remain intact, unaffected by seafloor erosion that can damage or destabilize turbines and shift the undersea landscape.
The Reef Cube initiative creates desired outcomes without using problematic and polluting products like plastic that can contaminate our drinking water, hurt marine life, and harm our health. They can "support and protect life on our seafloor and coastlines" when used for a variety of functions, noted the Arc Marine description.
Biodiversity is crucial, as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency stated: It is "essential to the existence and proper functioning of all ecosystems" and, per many scientists, "provides or supports the core benefits that humans derive from the environment" — from the food we eat, to the water we drink, to the air we breathe. Reef cubes "enhance our environment by attracting [this] sea life and plant growth," commented Vicki Spooner, the environment manager of Falmouth Harbor, in the Renewable Energy report.Â
Spooner added: "We are delighted to be installing Reef Cubes in our harbor. As their custodian, the health and prosperity of our local waters and their users is of paramount importance."
Healthier waters packed with a vibrant variety of organisms, plus alternative energy projects — like wind turbines — that power our world without releasing toxic carbon pollution are two big wins, but there's more. The offshore wind farm's team is bringing these lessons onto land — namely, working "with local schools to educate students about … the marine environment, biodiversity, and renewable energy," according to Renewable Energy.Â
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