Reducing the ecological footprint of ports with ECOncrete®’s bio-enhancing concrete technologies

The last few decades have seen rapid proliferation of hard artificial structures (e.g., offshore energy, port infrastructure, aquaculture, coastal defences) in the marine environment (ocean sprawl). 70% of coastal and marine infrastructure (CMI) is concrete, yet concrete is known as a poor substrate for marine flora and fauna to thrive.

Cement, the key ingredient of concrete, is the source of 8% of the world's carbon dioxide emissions.

Due to a lack of available concrete alternatives, CMI is designed and built with little or no ecological consideration, leading to high ecological footprint of structures like ports and coastal defence schemes often resulting in environmental penalties (€900K per acre or mitigation costs through via artificial reefs) and a prolonged permitting process (