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: 2) by Mykl on Thursday October 13 2016, @12:59AM
Perhaps this solution solves some of our non-Earthly problems (provided we can get hold of liquid water on Mars)? Great to see these sorts of self-running developments, which will be essential if we are to colonise.