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South Australia is at the forefront of sustainable agriculture this month, with the official opening of a tomato farm in Port Augusta. It's not just any tomato farm. Sundrop Farms is a hydroponic greenhouse facility that doesn't use fossil fuels, groundwater, pesticides or soil. The $200 million, 20-hectare farm doesn't even take up valuable arable land. It's located on arid, degraded land that is too barren for traditional agriculture.
Here's how it works. A solar tower standing 115 metres (377 feet) high with 23,000 mirrors pointed at it provides all the power the farm requires, for heating and cooling. It also powers a desalination plant, which converts seawater into freshwater to keep the plants irrigated.
If it works, there is a lot of "arid, degraded land that is too barren for traditional agriculture" in Nevada and eastern California that could be used the same way.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by bradley13 on Wednesday October 12 2016, @10:55AM
This is all fine, and fits well with efforts to bring agriculture directly into cities. These intensive, enclosed hydroponics operations can do amazing things, but it's not all milk-and-honey. If you get pernicious fungi or bacteria into one of these operations, you have a serious problem. They get to be organic exactly up to the point that they have to nuke the place from orbit in order to eradicate some pathogen. Still, it's interesting technology with possible applications.
My bigger issue with the article is the unstated implication that there is a shortage of arable land. There isn't. The reason Europe's forests have expanded so much in the past 100 years is because - with modern farming techniques - we need much fewer land to produce food than we did in the past. I have family in the USA who are paid by the government to *not* farm their land - sort of an indirect agricultural subsidy meant to drive prices up.
In Africa, the problems are different, but again, a shortage of land is not the problem. Just as an example, RHodesia used export massive amounts of food to the rest of Africa. Rhodesia became Zimbabwe, the farmer were chased out and replaced by gangs with poltical connections, who sold all the farm machinery for scrap. It is now a net importer of food due to ongoing corruption and incompetence. Put a hydroponic plant their, and the pipes will be ripped out and sold within the week.
tl;dr: Interesting tech demo, but not necessarily very useful...
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 5, Informative) by Kell on Wednesday October 12 2016, @11:08AM
My bigger issue with the article is the unstated implication that there is a shortage of arable land. There isn't.
I see you have never been to Australia.
Scientists ask questions. Engineers solve problems.
(Score: 2) by wonkey_monkey on Wednesday October 12 2016, @11:42AM
I bet he's never even played knifey-spoony.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 12 2016, @12:27PM
> In Africa, the problems are different, but again, a shortage of land is not the problem. Just as an example, RHodesia
Gee, why is it that when brad talks about Africa his first thought is Rhodesia? [nydailynews.com]
You think you are being coy and people can't see through your shit, you really aren't that smart.
(Score: 4, Touché) by bob_super on Wednesday October 12 2016, @05:00PM
When the evil locals reclaimed their land from the colonials, and the colonials used every avenue at their disposal to punish them and shut them off the worldwide markets, it was clearly demonstrated that the stupid monkeys were incapable of taking care of that land nearly as well as the good courageous chaps who had left the motherland to help civilize the unworthy.