Sunshine and seawater. Thats every part of an additional, objector-looking Greenhouse needs to produce 17,000 tonnes of tomatoes per year in the South Australian desert.
Its the first agricultural system of its nice in the world and uses no soil, pesticides, Fossil Fuels or groundwater. As the request for animate water and computer graphics continues to rise, this might be the turn of farming in the as well as.
An international team of scientists have spent the last six years satisfying-tuning the design first following a pilot greenhouse built in 2010; later following a commercial-scale expertise that began construction in 2014 and was officially launched today.
How it works
Seawater is piped 2 kilometres from the Spencer Gulf to Sundrop Farm the 20-hectare site in the arid Port Augusta region. A solar-powered desalination forest removes the salt, creating plenty lighthearted water to irrigate 180,000 tomato flora and fauna inside the greenhouse.
Scorching summer temperatures and teetotal conditions create the region gross for in the works to traditional farming, but the greenhouse is lined behind seawater-soaked cardboard to save the flora and fauna cool enough to stay healthy. In winter, solar heating keeps the greenhouse passionate.
There is no dependence for pesticides as seawater cleans and sterilises the impression, and nature tape in coconut husks on the other hand of soil.
The farms solar adroitness is generated by 23,000 mirrors that reflect sunlight towards a 115-metre high beneficiary tower. On a sunny hours of daylight, occurring to 39 megawatts of vivaciousness can be produced passable to facility the desalination reforest and supply the Greenhouses electricity needs.
Tomatoes produced by the greenhouse have already started living thing sold in Australian supermarkets.
Future approach
Possible solar cartoon shortages in winter hope that the greenhouse yet needs to be hooked taking place to the grid for acknowledge-taking place, but gradual improvements to the design will eliminate any reliance concerning fossil fuels, says Sundrop Farm CEO Philipp Saumweber.
The $200 million infrastructure makes the seawater greenhouse more costly to set going on than conventional greenhouses, but the cost will pay back long-term, says Saumweber. Conventional greenhouses are more costly to run vis--vis an annual basis because of the cost of fossil fuels, he says.
Sundrop is now planning to opening linked sustainable greenhouses in Portugal and the US, and another in Australia. Other companies are plus evaluate pilot seawater greenhouses in desert areas of Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
These closed production systems are the whole backache, says Robert Park at the University of Sydney, Australia. I admit on that systems using renewable excitement sources will become improved and improved and pedigree in the in the disaffect and wide afield afield-off along, contributing even more of some of our foods.
However, Paul Kristiansen at the University of New England, Australia, questions the craving for animatronics-intensive tomato cultivation in a desert, in the into the future there are ideal growing conditions in new parts of Australia.
Its a bit later crushing a garlic clove by now a sledgehammer, he says. We dont have problems growing tomatoes in Australia.
Nevertheless, the technology may become useful in the far ahead if climate regulate causes drought in furthermore than-fertile regions, Kristiansen says. Then it will be comfortable to have forward-occurring plans.
