Hydroponics

It is possible to grow all of the food a family of four can eat in an area no bigger than a large spare bedroom using a technology called hydroponics.  Hydroponics is the science of growing plants without soil.  It is a technology that goes back to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon in 600 B.C. and has had a long, interesting history up to the present day.

Hydroponics, in its simplest form, is growing plants by supplying all necessary nutrients in the plants' water supply rather than through the soil.  It is simple enough that many junior and senior high schools have a curriculum that includes a study of hydroponics.  Eagle Valley High School in Gypsum, CO goes a step further and has a very sophisticated aquaculture and hydroponics laboratory that is setup as a profitable enterprise.

On a commercial basis, "only high-quality, garden vegetables, such as tomatoes, cucumbers, salad crops and culinary herbs, can provide break even or better revenues in hydroponics systems" in the USA today.  As a result, hydroponics systems have developed a bad reputation because they are often used to grow plants that are illegal to grow!  But Eurofresh, in Willcox AZ, has developed a profitable business producing 2.9 million pounds of tomatoes a week.

Although many hydroponics systems are expensive to setup and maintain, the technology can also be adapted for use in underdeveloped countries with relatively limited capital investment.  It is feasible to grow hydroponically in poor soil conditions, such as in desert sand.  The mission of www.carbon.org, for example, is to support efforts to introduce simplified hydroponics to reduce hunger and poverty.
  

Hydroponics System Advantages

• More efficient use of space and water.  Valcent, El Paso, TX, recently announced that their High Density Vegetable Vertical Growing System will produce approximately 20 times the amount of vegetables per acre grown in a field while only using 5% of the water used for field crops.
• Pest and disease problems can be better controlled without harsh chemicals.  In some cases hydroponically grown produce is sold at similar prices and with similar marketing claims as organically grown produce.
• No soil needed.
• Nutrients can be recycled.
• Weed problems lessened.

Disadvantages of Hydroponics Systems

• Setup cost can be high.
• Skill and knowledge are necessary to operate at optimum production.
• Disease and pests can spread quickly.
• Need to constantly test and maintain the proper level and balance of chemicals to maintain PH and nutrient concentration in the nutrient solution.
• The liquid nutrient solution must be supplied to the roots in a frequent, timely manner.

  
NASA's CELSS

Life on earth as we know it would be impossible without plants.  Plants are a vital source of the food we eat and the air we breathe.  Plants also utilize (clean up) our wastes.  This relationship between plants and animals is called CELSS (Controlled Ecological Life Support System) by NASA and has been studied extensively.  It is impossible to bring along all of the food needed and it is very important to develop a sustainable environment for long space voyages and to live on space stations for an extended period of time.  Hydroponics is an important element in NASA's CELSS studies!

 
Meanwhile back on Earth...

Singapore, an Asian city-state with 4.7 million people on an island that is less than 20 miles in diameter, is seriously exploring the use of hydroponics to grow food-from-the-roof and on the sunny side of buildings.  Canada's "City Farmer" publication says, "Singapore's developments...over the next five to 10 years are expected to startle the world." 

 
Note: See this article online, with hyperlinked references, at: http://www.friendlyinnovators.com/mn/20080200.htm
Next Time: A technology that maybe over-hyped, "Scrubbing Smoke-Stacks by Growing Algae to Produce Bio-Fuel."  Valcent, El Paso, TX, recently announced they are harvesting algae with their bio reactor that could deliver approximately 33,000 gallons of algae oil per acre per year.  Valcent says a food crop such as soybeans will typically produce some 48 gallons oil per acre per year and palm will produce approximately 630 gallons oil per acre per year.

Al Leedahl
Engineering Design Concepts
www.leedahl.com/engineering/design/concepts.htm

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