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A Kayak, a Patch of Kelp, and a Nature Based Solution
- Daisy Moll
- Jul 30
- 3 min read
“If we can park a kayak in kelp, why not a wind turbine?”
In a windswept bay off the Scottish West Coast, Harland Evans- a linguist-turned-insurance broker-turned climate tech founder - watched as a kayak sat improbably still, nestled in a patch of seaweed. What seemed mundane to most sparked a flurry of questions in Evans’s mind. He turned to the leader of the excursion, Matt, asking how he knew he could "park" the kayak there and whether the same principle could work for floating wind farms. The guide, slightly bemused, reminded him he was a tour guide, not an engineer. When Evans returned from the trip, he began investigating whether his idea, that kelp could stabilise offshore wind turbines at scale, was a viable solution.
Eighteen months after the kayak-in-kelp moment sparked his idea, Harland Evans is now leading Nature Based Limited. The company is developing kelp breakwaters, a natural, regenerative alternative to concrete to tackle one of offshore wind’s most persistent problems: floating turbines breaking under ocean stress.
“Floating wind is the frontier,” says Evans. “But it breaks, cables snap, platforms shift. Traditional fixes like beefing up the base or strengthening parts have limits. We’re saying: what if your breakwater was alive?”
Listen to the full episode here.
A Kelp-Powered Eureka
Evans doesn’t come from the conventional climate engineers background. “I have no business doing this,” he laughs. “I’m a linguist who spent eight years in insurance.” Evans began pulling together research at UCL, investigating how kelp forests attenuate waves and how movement impacts turbine performance. His findings were promising and soon, so were the calls from wind developers intrigued by a solution that required no invasive hardware, reduced costs, and had added environmental benefits.
Today, Nature Based Limited is pioneering a method to stabilise floating offshore turbines using kelp forests, stretching up to 40 square kilometers, over three times the size of Heathrow Airport. Instead of shipping thousands of tons of concrete to the middle of the sea, developers would essentially “plant” infrastructure that grows itself.
Crucially, the seaweed forests would be designed to operate entirely independently of turbine hardware, a key consideration for developers wary of additional engineering risk. “The advice was clear: don’t touch my stuff,” Evans grins. “So we don’t.”
Biodiversity by Design
The ecological upside is significant. Kelp forests, now in global decline, support rich marine life and sequester carbon. While Nature Based Limited is not focused on restoration but is planting new ones. Evans notes their installations could support broader environmental aims, “We're creating new habitat at restoration scale, without needing to harvest or monocrop.”
Independent charities, including the Kelp Forest Alliance and the Wildlife Trusts, have validated the concept’s low risk to marine ecosystems. What’s more, Evans hopes the infrastructure-grade cultivation of kelp will make future restoration projects faster and cheaper, as well as support other companies utilising kelp, for example, alternatives to plastic.
Nature as Infrastructure
Evans is hoping that his project is part of the beginning of valuing nature as an infrastructure asset. Nature has previously been something taken as granted not valued beyond its potential to produce carbon credits. That’s changing. With policies like the UK’s Biodiversity Net Gain and looming marine biodiversity requirements in Europe, developers are seeking dual-purpose solutions. What makes Nature Based’s proposition compelling is that it doesn’t require developers to choose between profit and principle. “We’re not just an environmental bonus,” Evans explains. “We reduce maintenance costs and improve turbine resilience. The ecological benefit is the cherry on top.”
It may sound far-fetched until you remember Evans is an insurance veteran. “My job used to be monetising things no one paid for,” he says. “Nature is exactly that. We all value it, but it’s rarely priced into infrastructure.”
Looking ahead, Evans sees enormous potential, not just for kelp, but for a wave of copycat innovators. “I can’t wait for the day I open The Sustainable Times and read about someone using mangroves to stabilise floating solar.”
As governments scramble to meet net-zero targets, projects like Evans’ could become case studies in a broader rethink, one where nature isn’t merely protected, but actively deployed.
Listen to the full episode here.
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