A bit too high-tech for my taste, but interesting, especially for deserts near the sea. I prefer my son Colin’s low-tech approach: gardentowerproject, which, BTW, is now open for individual orders.
On the other hand, according to NOAA, “The ocean covers 71 percent of the Earth’s surface and contains 97 percent of the planet’s water.” All that seawater has been just begging to be harnessed in one way or another. Check out, for example, Ocean Energy.
Close your eyes. Imagine just how many experiments are going on right now, all over the world, regarding new/old ways to grow food! Imagine these new/old farmers connecting even more fully to the enduring magic of Mother Earth, releasing even more of what she has to offer us. More: imagine all the brilliant youngsters conducting wild experiments in slums and basements and suburban garages to produce energy from abundant, renewable resources!
Imagine how all these experiments with food and energy are pressing against the old walls that keep them from being shared, fully harnessed, distributed. Just imagine! Then, intend that all this creativity shall be loosed into the world. YES! Wake up! It’s Time.
Growing Food in the Desert: The Solution to the World’s Food Crisis Is Here
November 30, 2012
Agriculture uses 60-80% of the planet’s scarce fresh water, but what would happen if food production used no water at all? That is what is happening right now in South Australia, and soon in Qatar.
A group of international scientists is using the sun to create something-from-nothing — fresh water for irrigation, from condensation; electricity for heating and cooling greenhouses, from a solar thermal system — all integrated to grow high-quality, delicious, pesticide-free vegetables in greenhouses year-round.
So far, the company, Sundrop Farms, has grown commercial quantities of tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers, using the same proven technology and close to zero fossil fuels. Salty seawater is abundant like the sun, especially with our ice caps melting away, so the venture is ready to scale up in a big way. A a 20-acre greenhouse is being built that will grow produce for supermarkets now clamoring for an exclusive contract, reports the Guardian.
“They are making food without risk, eliminating the problems caused not just by floods, frost, hail but by lack of water, too, which now becomes a non-issue,” says the head of Australia’s government-funded desalination research institute, Neil Palmer. “Plus, it stacks up economically and it’s infinitely scalable.”
(WATCH the video below or READ the feature story in the Guardian)
