3 things:

-WTF is an "electrified reef"

-What are they good for (absolutely everything?)

-Ok, so if they're so great then why aren't we building them everywhere?

WTF is an electrified reef?

Once upon a time, some execs loved their oil rigs very much and didn't want them to rust.

Some rigs, they had coated in waterproof maritime paints.

Others, they said "Fuck it, let's pump electricity through it & see what happens" and MAGIC happened.

warning: I am a biologist and very bad at electrochemistry, what follows is a rough approximation

but even though it sounds fake I swear to god it's real

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathodic_protection

The idea was that if you attach some anodes, set up a current, & basically turn the entire steel/iron structure of the oil rig into a cathode

then it won't rust. The chemical reaction of rusting cannot take place. The oil rig structure is now protected from corrosion.

And it worked!

However something else also happens: calcium & magnesium carbonates start precipitating all over the steel/iron structure.

http://www.mdpi.com/2075-4701/5/1/439/pdf-vor

And then, if you cook it low & slow with the right voltage (aka too low to electrocute anything), something ELSE happens:

Bivalves, corals, crustose algae, & other reef-building organisms with calcium carbonate skeletons start to grow on it.

Like, kind of alarmingly fast?

I haven't been able to find a definitive answer for WHY this is. The scientific consensus seems to be "Maybe it's less work for them to build their shells there? idk?"

This was more or less the idea behind Biorock: a 1979 patent for "instead of building seawalls by putting concrete panels in the ocean, what if we put in rebar, ran a low current through it, & let precipitation build us a protective reef- OH WORD, CORALS LOVE THAT SHIT"

So, that's what I mean by "electrified reef." It's an ecotechnology that comes, in a roundabout way, from the nightmare quadrant of human enterprise: deep-sea oil rigs. Kind of a swords-into-plowshares story.

There isn't really a name for this technology, even. "Biorock" applies to a specific patented process. The oil rig people call it "cathodic protection" bc they're in it for the anti-rust qualities rather than building reefs themselves, etc.

so I asked myself "what would Janelle Monae do" & called it "electrified reef," obviously

Now on to "What can you do with electrified reefs?"

And the answer is "Anything you want, u freaks"

This tech can be used to build all kinds of marine structures: barrier reefs for storm protection, habitat, fishing/diving, etc.

There are a couple orgs building these reefs for shoreline protection, and successfully reclaimed a beach in the Maldives that everyone thought was going to fall off the island.

https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/1282903

A fishing village in Thailand built one themselves to preserve their food supply/attract ecotourism, after some American consultants charged them WAY too much to install one the first time (more on that later)

https://newheavenreefconservation.org/learning-resources/articles/123-a-new-future-in-electric-coral-reefs

There's an artist who builds reefs in the ocean, and also makes jewelry. Make your desired shape in metal mesh, stick it in a seawater tank & set up the current, and voila: cool shell- and bone-looking things in whatever shape you want.

https://colleenflanigan.com/jewelry1.html 

It's a technology that's kiiiiind of like 3D printing, in that it's pretty much infinitely customizable to make whatever you want, and also is additive.

But also it's really different bc you need a seawater, electricity, a metal skeleton, & at least couple months lead time lol

It's also, and this is the best part, self-healing.

As long as you can turn the current back on, the structure can accumulate more minerals. It can "grow back" any cracks & holes.

This is really important for marine structures: they're constantly battered by waves.

That's kind of the limiting factor in maritime engineering. Whenever we try to protect coastlines from erosion with seawalls, the seawalls just get broken up and/or undermined by wave action. Flat concrete walls are not good shoreline protection technology.

Which brings us to the 3rd & final thing to know about electrified reefs: why these things are amazing, straightforward enough that a fishing village in Thailand can DIY them, and yet we're not exactly adopting electrified reefs en masse even as the seas are coming for us all."

Short answer: the problem isn't the technology, it's us!

TBC shortly

Why aren't we building electrified reefs all over the place?

A few reasons.

First, they're weird? And good at too many things?

It's very easy to pitch a city gov't, for example, on ONE infrastructure project that does ONE, obvious thing.

Bridges, power plants, etc. It's obvious what problem they're supposed to solve.

But an artificial reef for storm protection? "Well, it's a living seawall, but it's not really a seawall, it's more like a reef field that drags down waves than a 'wall' wall, and also it's really good habitat and great for fishing, and-"

you've lost everyone.

It takes next-level hyper-focused messaging & politicking to get municipalities to just up & invest in infrastructure at all. Never mind funky new weird infrastructure.

This problem plagues a lot of green tech. So much so that I got two whole podcast episodes out of it for biochar: another cool green tech that isn't getting scaled up bc it's a little weird & way too versatile for its own good. (eps #19 & 20)

https://soundcloud.com/search?q=farm%20to%20taber

Another problem: electrified reefs need maintenance.

Not an insane amount. Remember, fishing villages are fully capable of installing & maintaining them themselves.

But like... think about how we're doing with maintaining the infrastructure we already have lol

Electrified reef systems get a lot of abuse: salt water, waves. There should be someone who goes out once a week to make sure all the pieces are still working lol.

This is a straightforward trade skills job! Doesn't take a high-end contractor!

And that might actually be the whole problem.

*Building* infrastructure plays a really important role in the graft & corruption ecosystem.

Paying trade workers to maintain infrastructure once it's built does NOT. https://twitter.com/SarahTaber_bww/status/1329446390439817219

This helps explain what someone once told me about these things

"Honestly the places most likely to build reefs aren't where they need to protect a city.

"It's over-the-water bungalow hotels that want to advertise 'We have nice snorkeling right under your deck."

A high proportion of electrified reef builds were sponsored by scuba diving clubs.

Why? Both the luxury hotels & dive clubs have money to blow, sure, but also their funding doesn't run through a municipal graft process ):

Infrastructure projects have a lot more to do with handing out big contracts to your buddies

and alas, it seems we lack for contractors in this country who are good at both lobbying & building reefs.

Finally, most of the reef builds so far have been for coral restoration. AKA in tropical island nations. AKA far away from where most Americans would see it happening. It's just not in our universe.

That said, that's slowly starting to change! NYC's doing some really cool shit with their oyster reef restoration! https://www.billionoysterproject.org 

AFAIK electrification isn't part of it, but that's cool, it still works.

NYC is rebuilding its historic oyster reefs because they drag down incoming storm waves, hopefully sparing the city from severe damage from future hurricanes & tropical storms.

Also they clear up the water. Along with other anti-pollution efforts in the last few decades, NYC harbor cleanup is coming along!

Now there's big schools of menhaden and the city's become a regular stop for whales. Like, within the last 2 years. https://www.oceanographicmagazine.com/features/marine-mammals-gotham-whale/

NYC is, as far as I know, the first major US city to build reefs as storm-protection infrastructure. Looking forward to seeing how it grows.