Seagrass meadows are responsible for 11% of the World’s saltwater CO2 storage – critical to marine biodiversity. However, in the last century 92% of the UK’s seagrass has disappeared.
In just five months during lockdown, Edinburgh University student Niall McGrath and a team of six others have developed a robot that crawls along the ocean floor re-seeding this vital plant and reducing the need for divers – who traditionally plant it.
With a lifelong interest in environmental issues. Niall and his team are now the UK’s finalist in Red Bull Basement, which is taking place this weekend – a global event enabling the next generation of entrepreneurs to innovate with purpose.
Selected from over 3,500 entrants, Niall’s team includes a mechanical engineer who has helped to create the invention, and their dream of sharing ROBOCEAN with David Attenbrough.
If they win the event this weekend, they’ll have the chance to turn this business into a reality, which could save as much as 2 football fields of seagrass globally every hour.
Niall’s video pitch for the business can be seen above, and you can read more about ROBOCEAN here.