sun. The system is growing tomatoes in “soil” composed of coconut husks and waste cardboard saturated in seawater with energy for pumps and other electrical support generated by the sun. Today the farm is growing some 18,000 tomato plants – 17,000 metric tons of food is already on sale in Australian grocery stores. The system cost over $200 million dollars to build, which is an intimidating sum. But investors are confident of payback and return by the substantial cost savings by not having to purchase fossil fuel energy in a very expensive market. Expansion is already planned, with the addition of peppers and fruits. Sundrop Farms is also building new such facilities in similar zones: Portugal in Europe, and Tennessee in the United States.
What we have here is a fascinating adaptation to the realities of the global energy market and fresh water crisis. There is inherent in the concept not just reaction, but pro-action, realizing that the market cost of land acquisition and conventional energy, based on oil, can be mitigated by alternative availability of land. This reduces expenses dramatically, exploits the available supply of free sun and seawater, and provides protein at scale to profitably meet a worldwide demand.
A second example speaks to the larger question of the availability of arable land. Industrial agriculture, for all its benefit, has nonetheless caused serious detriment to land available for farming. Add to that the climate impact of severe weather, drought, and over-consumption by irrigation from the aquifer and ground water supply; add to that the escalating cost of expansion, equipment, and fertilizer, and the nitrate pollution of increased use of that fertilizer; and add to that the impact of hydraulic fracking for oil in farming areas that has caused productive land to be converted to this alternative use, and you have another crisis of aridity, availability, and accountability of traditionally arable land.
So, consider the concept of floating farms, large structures in the ocean, used to complement and expand traditional farming, again exploiting the inexpense of available water—salt or desalinated—and alternative energy from sun and wind, enabling both hydroponic growing and aquaculture, creating new employment for small-scale farmers and fishers, and providing the protein that is no longer available from the exhausted land. Located in secure areas adjacent to energy and water, protected against sea level rise and extreme weather by seawall and barriers, and creating value through labor and reduced cost, floating farms can be constructed now, using available engineering and technology as a forward-looking investment in long-term food security and resilience.
It is not incorrect to say that these innovations could meet the food demand for the entire world. How could we do otherwise?
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Bio: Peter Neill is founder and director of the World Ocean Observatory, a web-based place of exchange for information and educational services about the health of the world ocean. Online at worldoceanobservatory.org.
Photo Captions
Photo 1: Tomatoes grown with sun power and seawater.
Photo credit: Sundrop Farms
Photo 2: Combining solar energy, hydroponics, and aquaculture, smart floating farm (SFF) technology is a forward-looking investment in long-term security and resilience.
Photo credit: Inhabitat.com
Combining solar energy, hydroponics, and aquaculture, smart floating farm (SFF) technology is a forward-looking investment in long-term security and resilience. Photo credit: Inhabitat.com
Photo credit: Inhabitat.com
May 2017 - Sustainable Living
50 - SEVENSEAS