Seawater Greenhouses: Biotech as Magic

[Justin Boland]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seawater_Greenhouse
http://www.seawatergreenhouse.com/

Water Production and Water Savings

The Seawater Greenhouse converts sea water into fresh water, providing a unique local desalination capability. The water is condensed from water vapour in the air, in much the same way as dew. It is pure distilled water, produced without chemical treatment. The quantity produced depends on the climate - the hotter and sunnier, the more water.

The air entering the Greenhouse is both cooled and humidified. High humidity and low temperatures (the Greenhouse operates at approx. 90% relative humidity) reduces plant transpiration substantially, by up to 80%. This reduces irrigation requirements. The irrigation rate in Tenerife averaged 1.2 litre/day/m2 against 8 litres/day/m2 used by local farmers.

The impact of a new source of water on a local area can be highly beneficial. In Tenerife, a barren area 'turned green' as seepage from irrigation reversed saline intrusion and enabled new plant growth.

Of even greater importance is the effect the Seawater Greenhouse can have on reducing demand for mains water and reserves of ground water. Around 8-10 litres per m2 per day can be saved which, on a macro scale, will have an immense impact, freeing existing water supply for other uses.

Construction + Materials: http://www.seawatergreenhouse.com/const ... erials.htm

[Adrisya Alok]

This is a greenhouse application of the Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion process, right? I first found out about that from Brainsturbator years ago.



Justin might be familiar with the following link:
http://www.skilluminati.com/research/en ... n_systems/

To me, the most fascinating aspect of Craven's research is the applications in agriculture. Craven claims that by running the ocean water along the roots of the plants, it vigorously stimulates their growth. I know from personal experience that when I'm feeling ill, the best thing to do is take a cold shower, which only sounds insane if you never thought about it.

More interesting still: Craven claims that by turning the water on and off, he can essentially trick the plants into speeding up their metabolism, and thus growing three to four times faster. Worth noting again that this is neither pseudo-science, nor theoretical claims. John Pina Craven runs a corporation --- the Common Heritage Corp --- which is already operating these plants. He has vineyards on volcanic rock in Kona, Hawaii ---- vineyards which are not only on volcanic rock, but get 3 growing seasons every year, thanks to his cold-water wizardry.

Has there been follow up research on this?

Here's the original Wired article for those of you who have not yet read it:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.06/craven.html