Over 70% of the world’s coastlines experience erosion, which is increasing at an exponential rate due to climate change. Coral reefs provide valuable ecosystems that naturally prevent this erosion, but these are also rapidly being lost globally.
Zyba Ltd has developed CCell, a technology that uses wave energy to create artificial coral reefs in any shape or size. This can provide a long-term, ecological solution to coastal erosion, restoring fisheries and enhancing tourism in the process by creating new scuba dive sites.
CCell technology is an ultra-lightweight energy converter that uses ocean waves to generate electricity. This is used to power BioRock – a process of electrolysis that makes sea minerals form around a steel structure, effectively creating a reef. The process enables corals to grow up to five times faster than they would naturally.
Many coastal regions such as those in Indonesia, the Dominican Republic and Mexico rely heavily on tourist income. Governments and the hotel industry absorb the high costs of coastal protection and many current solutions are both temporary and, in some cases, can increase erosion rates over time.
CCell has gained significant interest in Mexico where local partners have been supporting pilot projects to demonstrate the benefits in this key market. Future plans include scaling up the technology to increase access to a market that is valued at £16 billion globally. Tara Massoudi leads Business Development at Zyba Ltd and is responsible for developing the partnerships that will support the growth of the company and the implementation of its core technology, CCell.
In 2018, Tara Massoudi was awarded an 1851 Royal Commission Enterprise Fellowship to support Zyba as it expands and brings its technology to market. Zyba Ltd has also been supported by Innovate UK as well as the EU Commission as part of a Horizon 2020 project.
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