Waveline: Addressing Sea Level Rise While Correcting Renewable Energy Waste Streams

No Image Description
EcoTopic / Project Category
Purchasing, Transportation, Water, Climate Adaptation, Community & Environmental Justice, Consumption & Waste, Habitat & Wildlife
Project Goal Summary
Waveline is an innovative, outside the box, climate adaptation project.

We want to combat sea level rise in low lying coastal regions and bolster community resilience, while simultaneously addressing a significant challenge in the wind energy industry: the disposal of decommissioned wind turbine blades. Wind turbine blades are the renewable energy industry's primary and most significant waste line. After twenty-five years, blades are decommissioned and turned into fuel for power plants or buried in landfills; estimates predict that 2.2 million tons of blades will be buried by 2050. Both of these factors counteract the goal of renewable energy. Our project, a testament to innovation, seeks to repurpose wind turbine blades and implement them offshore to create a soft-barrier marshland. By establishing these marshlands, we aim to create a breathing, natural buffer that mitigates the impact of storm surges. Wind turbine blades will be installed and anchored in shallow water in communities where coastal erosion and sea-level rise are active problems that must be addressed. Once installed along the coast, the blades will catch suspended sediment and build up a coastal barrier marshland, mitigating the effects of coastal erosion, sea-level rise, and severe weather events. We want to use our expertise in the renewable energy sector, architecture, and international climate justice to address this problem holistically, through a different lens than mainstream climate adaptation projects. 
            
Our goal is to redirect global waste streams to create a planetary-scale coastal defense system that transforms retired wind turbine blades into resilient, protective marshland barriers. Utilizing a $25 billion annual waste stream to mitigate $1.4 trillion in yearly coastal flooding damages and protect vulnerable communities from ongoing sea-level rise while harnessing the sequestering power of seagrass.

We envision a world where innovative reuse of materials transforms environmental challenges into opportunities for resilience. Our goal is to lead in creating sustainable coastal ecosystems that protect communities, restore natural habitats, and inspire global efforts toward a harmonious balance between human development and the environment. By fostering resilient shorelines and supporting marine ecosystems, we aim to set a new standard for climate adaptation and sustainable development.

We recognize that the expertise to address these challenges already exists within the local communities most affected by climate change, and we deeply respect the work that local organizations have been doing to protect and restore their communities and coastlines. Our goal is not to impose an external solution but to contribute to the ongoing efforts by collaborating closely with local experts and the community, as well as those serving it already. We envision this project as a means to enhance the resilience of these communities by providing critical shoreline protection and new economic opportunities. We understand that the success of this project hinges on local insights and collaboration.

Just as the causes and costs of these problems are interconnected, so are the potential benefits of interconnected solutions. As Waveline evolves, it has the potential to offer a growing number of environmental solutions to a growing number of environmental problems.

                                                                                                                                             

541633ab6bda50d07de5dee4bbc0456a-huge-sc



                                                                                                                                                       



 
Project Location
Cameron Parish, LA
United States
Project Goals and News

Waveline is a project designed by BNB Renewable Energy, LLC, in partnership with Matthew Ritchie Studio, and Skylar Tibbits’s Self Assembly lab at MIT, to address climate change through a multi disciplinary approach that aims to combat sea-level rise and redirect unsustainable waste streams in the renewable energy sector within the same vein. Waveline will be a sustainable, efficient, and adaptable intervention to at once maximize solutions for the re-use of windmill blades while also mitigating sea level rise. Waveline was created with a deep concern for underserved and under represented communities who face the brunt of climate change. The resilient strategy aims not only to mitigate the climatic impact (protection from storm surges, typhoons, ongoing se-level rise, and hurricanes) but also will include economic models that will support front-line communities, and youth who will benefit from such regional investment. The team will also be researching the carbon sequestration potential of seagrass, and related economic models and impacts. Waveline is both a landscape-scale artwork and a pragmatic system management and infrastructure proposal to use expired wind turbine blades (a large-scale global waste stream) as the primary building material for coastal defense and large-scale multilayer flood mitigation (MFM), while creating a large scale opportunity for high impact carbon dioxide reduction (CDR) by restoring seagrass meadows, all at an affordable cost that provides ongoing revenue streams for participating communities and potential investors. The integration and installation of these proposed technical systems; wind turbine blade re-use, sea scaping for natural coastal defense and erosion control, will be integrated with a typology of other best-practice multilayer coastal defense systems. The proposed system restores marine ecosystems, rebuilds natural coastal defense, creates large-scale carbon sequestration, and encourages coral recruitment. The initial project will be site-specific and serve to market the concept to a larger audience. The concept is non-proprietary and easily scalable in order to maximize the impact of the idea outside of the limits of the Waveline Team. The Waveline system will consist of three blades, one perpendicular to the beach and two off the end, similar to the construction of a wind turbine. The anticipated outcomes of installation include the buildup of sediment along the blades and heavier accumulation where the three blades converge, as well as the development of seagrass beds between the coastline and the Waveline systems. The evaluation will measure the effectiveness of erosion mitigation, seagrass promotion, and habitat improvement, alongside assessing sustainability and community engagement. This comprehensive evaluation will inform best practices and guide the expansion of this project beyond the limits of the Waveline Team. 

Waveline is intended to be initially deployed in the Cameron Parish as a demo site before global expansion. The Cameron Parish will be underwater with just 6 feet of sea-level rise. The area is regularly impacted by hurricanes and tropical storms, leading to coastal erosion, flooding, and damage to infrastructure. These frequent extreme weather events provide an opportunity to assess how well coastal defense systems can withstand such conditions. We are working to collaborate with several community organizations in the Parish to create a preliminary foundation of trust and understanding.

Tag Your Project
climate change, adaptation, community building, resiliency, marine ecosystems, coastal erosion, coastal protection, flooding

Project Feedback


Log in to post a comment.
No Image Description

Tags

Form Details

Average Rating:
Date Added: Sep 13, 2024
Date Last Modified: Sep 13, 2024

Certify Your EcoLeader Project

Are you ready to certify your project with National Wildlife Federation and share your positive impact on the environment? 
 
CERTIFY YOUR PROJECT