Why would anyone think of growing food on arid land with salt water? The question certainly seems logical, but Charlie Paton, the chief executive of Seawater Greenhouse has precisely taken up this challenge. He has designed a greenhouse, which will allow farmers to grow crops in desert environments that too using sea water. The system is both low tech and also ultra efficient.
For making the above stated proposition viable a few simple additions in a greenhouse have been manipulated to make it suitable for the desert. For example a lattice wall has been added to one side of the greenhouse. When sea water is poured over it and a fan is directed toward it, water evaporates to the outside. The resulting water then condenses, cooling the greenhouse and also providing water for plants.
For the little energy it requires, solar panels can be installed rendering the greenhouse carbon free. The only byproduct that one gets is water vapor, which humidifies the air. This implies that if the applied on a large scale, it could well have a restorative effect on the arid land.
The trials have been successfully completed and the company has embarked Mexico as the ideal place to start with. The company truly hopes to get things in the right order so that food security could be restored and the farmers could get a fixed avenue for generating income.
Via: Businessgreen
