Difference between revisions of "Food/Controlled Environment Agriculture"
| Line 7: | Line 7: | ||
Hydroponics achieves a ten- or twenty-fold decrease in the amount of water compared to growing in soil <sup>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroponics#Commercial]</sup>. And aeroponics uses 65% less water again, and only a quarter the nutrients <sup>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroponics#Aeroponics]</sup>. This will make huge difference if we want to preserve our [[Fundamental resources/Water|water resources]], as 69% of all our water use is for irrigation <sup>[http://www.wbcsd.org/DocRoot/lD1tMGiLZ7NL9mBOL2aQ/WaterFactsAndTrends-Update.pdf]</sup>. | Hydroponics achieves a ten- or twenty-fold decrease in the amount of water compared to growing in soil <sup>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroponics#Commercial]</sup>. And aeroponics uses 65% less water again, and only a quarter the nutrients <sup>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroponics#Aeroponics]</sup>. This will make huge difference if we want to preserve our [[Fundamental resources/Water|water resources]], as 69% of all our water use is for irrigation <sup>[http://www.wbcsd.org/DocRoot/lD1tMGiLZ7NL9mBOL2aQ/WaterFactsAndTrends-Update.pdf]</sup>. | ||
| − | [[Image:Hydroponics.jpg|right| | + | [[Image:Hydroponics.jpg|right|180px|thumb|Note that several plants can be grown stacked vertically, greatly reducing footprint]]It has already been demonstrated that a hydroponics garden can grow 2kg of vegetables a day in 20 square meters <sup>[http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:ezRcpPE6EGwJ:www.carbon.org/senegal/india1.doc&cd=4&hl=en]</sup> and aeroponics could reduce this space even further. (2kg of vegetables provides all the carbohydrate needs of an adult, without the need for grains.) It is realistic to stack five layers of crops one on top of another in a 2m high system, reducing the area needed from 20m<sup>2</sup> to 4m<sup>2</sup>. This makes it possible for a city-dweller to grow their own food in a small apartment, which could lead to the novel phenomenon of cities that can produce all their own food {{em}} and it is an important piece of the [[Colonising Space|space colony]] puzzle. |
[http://omegagarden.com/ Omega Garden] uses an innovative cylindrical design in which plants are constantly tilted so they have to adjust to gravity. This results in stronger, more compact growth. It is claimed that this method can result in a fivefold increase over other plants grown in the same conditions but without rotation. | [http://omegagarden.com/ Omega Garden] uses an innovative cylindrical design in which plants are constantly tilted so they have to adjust to gravity. This results in stronger, more compact growth. It is claimed that this method can result in a fivefold increase over other plants grown in the same conditions but without rotation. | ||
| Line 15: | Line 15: | ||
Light use can also be optimized by using fibre-optic cables to pipe sunlight down from the rooftop to the plants. This would significantly reduce the amount of energy needed. | Light use can also be optimized by using fibre-optic cables to pipe sunlight down from the rooftop to the plants. This would significantly reduce the amount of energy needed. | ||
| − | [[Image:Aerogarden.jpg|left| | + | [[Image:Aerogarden.jpg|left|180px]]Using aeroponics and LED grow lights, the conditions of plant-growth can be precisely monitored, controlled and optimized. A controlled environment greatly reduces the threat of pests and plant-diseases, and allows for fast, consistent growth of healthy, nutritious, pesticide-free and tasty plants. Dickson Despommier, an advocate of vertical, controlled-environment farming, has painted a picture of what this farming might be like - |
<blockquote> | <blockquote> | ||
Revision as of 13:02, 18 July 2010
Aeroponics is the art of growing plants without soil by having the roots in mid-air in an empty box and intermittently spraying them with nutrient-enriched water. This allows for precise control of the amount of nutrients that the plants receive. The figures on Wikipedia 
, show that hydroponics (growing plants with their roots in a pool of nutrient-enriched water) yields are 50% to over 1700% higher than yields from growing in soil. Aeroponics yields are significantly higher even than those from hydroponics [1] [2].
A controlled environment eliminates the dependence of food production upon the season, allowing food to be grown all year around. This is known as constant-yield growing. While only one harvest a year can be grown conventionally, constant-yield growth gives at least 4 harvests a year and as many as 30 for plants like strawberries.
The precision of control over the growing medium also lends itself to automation more readily than does growing in soil. And — best of all — by optimizing the nutrient flow, we can supply plants with the nutrients they need to produce the flavonoids that give them their flavour. With controlled growing, it is possible to achieve a more intense flavour than growing in soil.
Hydroponics achieves a ten- or twenty-fold decrease in the amount of water compared to growing in soil [3]. And aeroponics uses 65% less water again, and only a quarter the nutrients [4]. This will make huge difference if we want to preserve our water resources, as 69% of all our water use is for irrigation [5].
It has already been demonstrated that a hydroponics garden can grow 2kg of vegetables a day in 20 square meters [6] and aeroponics could reduce this space even further. (2kg of vegetables provides all the carbohydrate needs of an adult, without the need for grains.) It is realistic to stack five layers of crops one on top of another in a 2m high system, reducing the area needed from 20m2 to 4m2. This makes it possible for a city-dweller to grow their own food in a small apartment, which could lead to the novel phenomenon of cities that can produce all their own food — and it is an important piece of the space colony puzzle.
Omega Garden uses an innovative cylindrical design in which plants are constantly tilted so they have to adjust to gravity. This results in stronger, more compact growth. It is claimed that this method can result in a fivefold increase over other plants grown in the same conditions but without rotation.
LEDs can be used as an alternative to the sun in providing the light for plants to grow. LEDs could be useful in situations where sunlight is unavailable - such as in winter in regions far from the Equator, in underground or underwater dwellings, in cities where a demand for space means food must be grown on stacked shelves indoors, and in space stations. Currently the main obstacle to large-scale controlled environment agriculture projects such as The Vertical Farm Project is the cost of energy needed to provide the light. As LEDs become cheaper and more energy-efficient (as with recent developments in OLED and PHOLED technology) this sort of production of high-quality food is becomes more and more feasible.
Light use can also be optimized by using fibre-optic cables to pipe sunlight down from the rooftop to the plants. This would significantly reduce the amount of energy needed.
"Each floor will have its own watering and nutrient monitoring systems. There will be sensors for every single plant that tracks how much and what kinds of nutrients the plant has absorbed. You'll even have systems to monitor plant diseases by employing DNA chip technologies that detect the presence of plant pathogens by simply sampling the air and using snippets from various viral and bacterial infections. It's very easy to do.
Moreover, a gas chromatograph will tell us when to pick the plant by analyzing which flavenoids the produce contains. These flavenoids are what gives the food the flavors you're so fond of, particularly for more aromatic produce like tomatoes and peppers. These are all right-off-the-shelf technologies. The ability to construct a vertical farm exists now. We don't have to make anything new."
If open collaborative design is applied to researching growing foods in controlled environments, algorithms could be developed modelling how nutrient flow, timing, duration, intensity and color of light, and strains of plants used affects food yields and flavour. Programming these algorithms into computers that control the LED lights and the nutrient flow in the aeroponic system would yield a truly automated food-production system that anyone could use to grow their own food indoors. All this technology exists currently, and is being constantly improved and refined.
Aeroponic plant production is the most advanced method of growing food available. Not only does it achieve incredibly high yields in short times, it lends itself easily to automation, while minimizing water, energy and land use, maximizing nutritional values and producing awesome food. It is commercially viable now, even in our scarcity-based economy, and there are several profitable aeroponic farms.
