Can we grow our beaches back?

Can we grow our beaches back?

For shore!

MIT-born Coastal Assembly, PBC is already doing so using AI and sub-sea structures that work with natural coastal forces.

What's interesting about their technology?

• Their structures use the natural energy from waves and currents to accumulate sand exactly where it's needed

• And they double up as artificial reef habitats for coral and fish

• Grew >90ft of new beach in just 6 months at a Maldives resort

• Built from low-cost, biodegradable materials (~10 year lifespan), that are cheaper to deploy and maintain than steel or concrete

Why is it important?

• Most existing solutions (like seawalls) fight nature. They're carbon-intensive, expensive, can worsen erosion elsewhere, while destroying natural habitats

• By 2100, rising seas could put up to 50% of the world's sandy beaches at risk of disappearing

• Greece has the longest coastline of any EU member state, ~10% of which is eroding at more than 3m/year, resulting in an estimated €2.6B in annual losses (see our previous article)

Alongside the policy fixes discussed last week, Coastal Assembly's technology could provide a necessary lifeline to the most vulnerable beaches along our beautiful coast.

And they're now scaling from pilot resorts to developers, cities, and countries.

Would love to see a Greek pilot.

Sources

• Coastal Assembly – 90ft in 6 months claim, Maldives pilots, materials and cost information

• Coastal Assembly – explainer video

• MIT News – Self-Assembly Lab origins and how the technology works

• Vousdoukas et al., Nature Climate Change (2020) – 50% of sandy beaches at risk by 2100

• Synerra – Greece coastline, erosion and €2.6B figures (our previous article)