What if the solution to saving Louisiana’s coast and aquatic ecosystem was a plant-based product from the Philippines? Johnnie James II, a Baton Rouge climate tech entrepreneur and CEO and founder of Pursuit of Happiness Farms, became the global exclusive rights holder in May 2024 for Reefbuds, a coral reef restoration technology invented in the Philippines in 2007. James says that if properly deployed and monitored, Reefbuds can restore dead zones to support aquatic plant and animal life like shrimp and oysters, sequester carbon, and prevent waves from crashing directly on Louisiana’s shorelines, thus saving land. He also wants to pair the organic structures with technological devices to collect underwater data. “We’re more than a Band-Aid for a very serious issue,” James says. “We’re building upon two decades of success in the Philippines but at a scale they haven’t really approached. They’ve deployed more than 10,000 Reefbuds over the past 18 years, and to us, more than 10,000 could be two large projects in Louisiana.” Reefbuds are porous structures handmade with naturally sourced ingredients like sand, gravel, biomass (such as sugarcane bagasse), a small amount of cement for binding purposes, and metallic oxides. Within 24 to 72 hours of being placed underwater, the mound-shaped structures with holes start to recruit algae to the surface and act as a habitat for underwater animals to hide and spawn inside. “Sixty percent of our carbon emissions are coming from the industrial sector,” James says. “In our lifetime, we’re never going to stop being an oil and gas or chemical state, but what we can do is use biomimicry. This is how nature reduces carbon through these natural processes to lower our carbon footprint so that we can start to approach carbon neutrality.” James won $3,000 at Nexus Louisiana’s PitchBR competition in November. He plans to spend part of the money on purchasing small fish tanks to execute small-scale Reefbuds demonstrations. This year, James is seeking partnerships with local conservation organizations and companies and will be applying for grants to accelerate the Reefbuds deployment timeline. Editor’s Note: This story has been updated since original publication.