URBAN FARMING

High-tech methods for urban farming

High-tech methods• Biosphere experiment• Hydroponics (geoponics)• Aquaponics• Aeroponics• Usage of artificial light• Fungus farming/yeast extract• Algae farming• Other, nonurban usages

Biosphere experiment I.• 1985-2007, USA, Arizona Biosphere 2 (Biosphere 1 is the Earth itself).• An absolutely closed (hermetically) system, nothing can get in or

come out, excepting sunlight and heat.• The initiation came originally from space research.• Main purpose: creating such spaceships, or space stations, which can

produce the necessary oxigen and food for the crew.Even nowadays, the food and the oxigen must be delivered onto orbit, which has a huge cost.There is almost infinite amount energy up there (solar energy) thus such biosphere systems would be extremely suitable.

• Problem: it did no work.• First „mission” 1991-1993: food production was quite efficient, its

rate could be increased in second year. The health levels of humans increased. BUT: the cosystem collapsed, vertebrates and pollinating insects died out. The oxygen level lowered (20% ->14%), the carbon-dioxide level extremely fluctuated. Oxygen addition was necessary.

Biosphere experiment II.

Biosphere experiment III.

Biosphere experiment IV.

Biosphere experiment V.

Biosphere experiment VI.

Biosphere experiment VII. • Conclusions: the system was too small. Carbon dioxide fluctuation

came from the daily dark and light change.• From our point of view: food production could be excellently done,

although some outer material adding (oxygen) was inevitable.• Humans health was improved despite the general environmental

decay (not so promising).• On a small enclosed space the necessary food production is possible

by adding only minor outer materials and a lot of energy.• Possibilities of improvement: adding sunlight lamps by night (it is real

in space, and half of the Earth is always enlightened).• Using purely water ecosystems (red algae) and using seafood

production. There is no drought, nutrition and gas suppleycan be controlled more easily.

• It can be compared by fungus/yeast farming.

Hydroponics I. • Agriculture without soil• Two possibilites: using a net, which keeps the plants and their roots

are in water.• Other possibility: usage porous clay granules (sterile) instead of soil

and the water fills the granules and reaches the roots on this way. Better static attributes by the plants, and the airing of the root zone is possible without any damage.

• In both case the only livings are the cultivated plants, nothing else. Ever nutrition must be dissolved into the water (even all microelements in appropriate rate).

• Due to the continous water coverage, ther can not be seasons because of frost damage, thus the whole system must be closed (heated glasshouse). Pesticide, herbicide, fungicide are not necessary, if the system is hermetically closed and sterile, only materials (nutritions, oxigen, carbon-dioxide, nitrogen can move in and out).

Hydroponics II.

Hydroponics III.

Hydroponics IV.

Hydroponics V.

Aquaponics I. • Combination of hydroponics and fish farming• Fish requires food, that must be provided to them. They produce

manure. The more intensive si the farming, the greater is the concentration of the manure in the water.

• This water, with relatively high fish manure concentration is ideal nutrition water for a hydroponic farm. Plants use up the manure as nutrition and clean the water, which can be recirculated.

• The fish food must be provided from outer source.• The nutrition in the water is more suitable for the plants (it has

naturally microelements).• There is double income, fish meal on the one hand and the harvest

from the hydroponic farm.• This is possible by both saltwater and sweetwater. Saltwater can be

provided in almost infinite amount by coastal farms (settelments).

Aquaponics II.

Aquaponics II.

Aquaponics III.

Aquaponics IV.

Aeroponics I. • Using 100% relative air humidity, morover mist as water and nutrition

source.• Require much smaller amoun of water than geoponics or

hydroponics.• Require an enclosed system.• Advantages and disadvantages are similar to those of hydroponics.• Main difference is that in this case a continous energy supply is

required, which produce continously the mist (spraying). Without this the plants can die in an hour.

• The archetypes are the tropical epiphytas in mist forests.• The weight is much smaller than that of a similar hydroponic system.

Only absolutely dissolved nutritions can be used (aqua-aeroponics is not a feasible way).

• Great advantage is the better oxigen provision for the plant roots.

Aeroponics II.

Aeroponics III.

Aeroponics IV.

Aeroponics V.

Usage of artificial light I. • Plants can use only a narrow band of electromagnetic spectrum.• The greatest amount of incoming light is in visible spectrum region.• Momentous UV radiation also comes, but it is stopped by the ozone

layer.• Momentous IR raiation also comes, but it provides quite low energy

density.• Nevertheless, most of the plants uses only a narrow band of the

spectra, this is the visible red light (so that the leaves are usually green).

• In some special cases other wavelength is also used, for example by red and brown algaes, because the visible red can not reach in a few metres deep into water (everything is greenish and blueish under the water).

• In case of artificial light sources, providing only the visible red light is enough to reach the same amount of metabolism by plants.

Usage of artificial light II.

• The electromagnetic spectrum.

Usage of artificial light III.

• Red algae. It uses the green light for photosynthesis.

Usage of artificial light IV.

• Using LED lights is the best solution. They have the best efficacy, moreover they radiate in a very narrow selected wavelength.

• Depending on the plant species, the best wavelength LED can be used. Some vegetables have different leaf colour.

Fungus farming/yeast extract I. • Fungus farming is a quite good solution for urban farming.• Traditional fungus farming needs only a closed chamber and

continous organic material supply.• The great advantage of fungus is that they can use up such materials

(for example wood) which can not be eaten directly by human.• The other great advantages, that fungus can create in their tissue

such materials (i.e. vitamins), which did not existed in the consumed organic raw material.

• Yeast is a kind of fungus, but they are uniccellular organisms. They are used basically for fermentation (beer, wine, black tea, yoghurt etc. production).

• Yeast is ideal to create synthetically almost all kind of food. It has a lot of different typesof nutrition.

• Yeast extract is yeast, which is treated with salt. The yeast slowly dies and uses up its own materials. After heating it can be 100% eaten.

Fungus farming/yeast extract II.

• Using LED lights is the best solution.

Fungus farming/yeast extract III.

• A famous type of yeast extract. Already quite widely used as food.

Algae farming I.• There exist already algae farming, mostly in East-Asia• The cultivated species are mostly red algae types (Porphyra sp.) they

are used mostly as vegetables.• Thanks to yeast and fungus many kind of algae can be cultivated,

which can not be consumed directly, but can be used up for yeast and fungus cultivation.

• There are lot other type ofalgae, like green algae and brown algae.• They live in different depth of seawater, thus they can use up

different wavelengthed light. Thus, there is possible to use up natural sunlight more effectively, by using different types of algae.

• They live in saltwater, thus their water demand can easily provided, which is a great advantage, especially nowadays, especially among urban circumstances.

Algae farming II.

Algae farming III.

Algae farming IV.

Other, nonurban usages.• These technologies can be used up not only among urban

circumstances. It can be used up every isolated sites, like space stations, submarines, long term sea travels, research stations on the Antarctica,the Arctic and in high mountain ranges.

• Originally they were created for providing the food for such isolated spaces.

• They can be very effectively used up also in such territories, where the local food production is very problematic i.e. Alaska, Canada Northwestern Region, Saud-Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Iceland.

• In case of greater industrial sites, which are isolated they can be extremely useful, especially on oceanic sites, i.e. oil drilling towers on the sea.

Other, nonurban usages.

• These technologies can be used up not only

Other, nonurban usages.

• These technologies can be used up not only

Other, nonurban usages.

• These technologies can be used up not only

Thank you for your attention!