17/4/2009 - Vertical Farming Technology

Vertical Farming

A vertical farm, 20 stories high and the size of a city block, would have the capacity to grow enough organic vegetables to supply a whole town. There are plenty of positives. 24/7 crop production, no crop failures from  droughts, floods or pests. The problem? The estimated cost of developing and maintaining such large scale urban agriculture, with its massive artificial lighting and hydroponic systems, puts the price of a single VF produced tomato around the same as the all-you-can-eat salad bar at Sizzler®.

Any obstacles to vertical farming could soon be overcome by technology. Vertical farms may be a good application for metamaterials, the new stuff scientists are creating that can bend light. Advances in solar cell technology, lighting, fiber optics, building materials and biotechnology could also make vertical farms more viable.

Vertical farms appear to be a practical solution to the growing demand for food and farmland.

The Problem

By the year 2050, nearly 80% of the earth's population will reside in urban centers. Applying the most conservative estimates to current demographic trends, the human population will increase by about 3 billion people during the interim. An estimated 10⁹ hectares of new land (about 20% more land than is represented by the country of Brazil) will be needed to grow enough food to feed them, if traditional farming practices continue as they are practiced today. At present, throughout the world, over 80% of the land that is suitable for raising crops is in use (sources: FAO and NASA). Historically, some 15% of that has been laid waste by poor management practices. What can be done to avoid this impending disaster?

A Potential Solution: Farm Vertically

The concept of indoor farming is not new, since hothouse production of tomatoes, a wide variety of herbs, and other produce has been in vogue for some time. What is new is the urgent need to scale up this technology to accommodate another 3 billion people. An entirely new approach to indoor farming must be invented, employing cutting edge technologies. The Vertical Farm must be efficient (cheap to construct and safe to operate). Vertical farms, many stories high, will be situated in the heart of the world's urban centers. If successfully implemented, they offer the promise of urban renewal, sustainable production of a safe and varied food supply (year-round crop production), and the eventual repair of ecosystems that have been sacrificed for horizontal farming.

It took humans 10,000 years to learn how to grow most of the crops we now take for granted. Along the way, we despoiled most of the land we worked, often turning verdant, natural ecozones into semi-arid deserts. Within that same time frame, we evolved into an urban species, in which 60% of the human population now lives vertically in cities. This means that, for the majority, we humans are protected against the elements, yet we subject our food-bearing plants to the rigors of the great outdoors and can do no more than hope for a good weather year. However, more often than not now, due to a rapidly changing climate regime, that is not what follows. Massive floods, protracted droughts, class 4-5 hurricanes, and severe monsoons take their toll each year, destroying millions of tons of valuable crops. Don't our harvestable plants deserve the same level of comfort and protection that we now enjoy? The time is at hand for us to learn how to safely grow our food inside environmentally controlled multistory buildings within urban centers. If we do not, then in just another 50 years, the next 3 billion people will surely go hungry, and the world will become a much more unpleasant place in which to live.

Advantages of Vertical Farming

	Year-round crop production; 1 indoor acre is equivalent to 4-6 outdoor acres or more, depending upon the crop (e.g., strawberries: 1 indoor acre = 30 outdoor acres)
	No weather-related crop failures due to droughts, floods, pests
	All VF food is grown organically: no herbicides, pesticides, or fertilizers
	VF virtually eliminates agricultural runoff by recycling black water
	VF returns farmland to nature, restoring ecosystem functions and services
	VF greatly reduces the incidence of many infectious diseases that are acquired at the agricultural interface
	VF converts black and gray water into potable water by collecting the water of evapotranspiration
	VF adds energy back to the grid via methane generation from composting non-edible parts of plants and animals
	VF dramatically reduces fossil fuel use (no tractors, plows, shipping.)
	VF converts abandoned urban properties into food production centers
	VF creates sustainable environments for urban centers
	VF creates new employment opportunities
	We cannot go to the moon, Mars, or beyond without first learning to farm indoors on earth
	VF may prove to be useful for integrating into refugee camps
	VF offers the promise of measurable economic improvement for tropical and subtropical LDCs. If this should prove to be the case, then VF may be a catalyst in helping to reduce or even reverse the population growth of LDCs as they adopt urban agriculture as a strategy for sustainable food production.
	VF could reduce the incidence of armed conflict over natural resources, such as water and land for agriculture

Copyright © 2009 The Vertical Farm Project. All Rights Reserved.

21/3/2009 - Future Transportation

Image from lbl.gov

Intelligent Vehicles

Fuel efficient, zero emission vehicles will use high tech electronics to assist drivers in a wide variety of ways. Vehicles will communicate with each other, with the road and with traffic signals. Autos and trucks of the future will use vision enhancement devices to help you navigate through bad weather and warn you of a possible collision with a pedestrian or animal. They will also let you know if you are getting drowsy or straying from your lane. Cars of the future will be radically different than the automobiles of today, and so will the driving experience.

Accident Free Driving

Obstacle detection, collision avoidance and intersection warning systems are being tested right now by governments and automobile manufacturers. Radio signals, sensors and cameras, future vehicles will help avoid accidents by examining the environment in real time and notifying the driver of potential problems.

Pedestrian and animal warning systems could use infrared or other detection technologies to identify large animals approaching the roadway, and alert drivers by activating flashers on warning signs. These systems may also activate in-vehicle warning devices.

Autos That Talk and Listen

While you are driving, your vehicles will communicate with the cars and trucks around you. Your future car will notify you when trucks are merging into your lane or motorcycles are in your blind spot. Smart intersections will sense vehicles from all directions and alert you of a possible collision.

Vision Enhancement

In vehicle Vision Enhancement Systems will improve visibility for night driving, inadequate lighting, fog, drifting snow, or other inclement weather driving  conditions

User Interface

Cars of the future will do a better job of keeping your hands on the wheel and your eyes on the road. Voice recognition will provide a hands free way of accessing your on board computer and navigation system. But your on board computer may do more than talk back.

21/3/2009 - Nanotechnology

What is Nanotechnology?

Array of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes

Nanotechnology is a broad term that covers many areas of science, research and technology. In its most basic form, it can be described as working with things that are small. Things so tiny that they can't be seen with standard microscopes. The same stuff that has always been there, but we just couldn't see it. The building blocks of nature, atoms and molecules. Nano-technology involves understanding matter at the "nano" scale.

A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter. In comparison, a human hair is about 100,000 nanometers in diameter.

New types of imaging tools, like the atomic force microscope, have allowed scientists to peek into the nano world. A world that before could only be visualized in theory. These tools help scientists validate theories about the way that atoms group together to form molecules of different types and shapes. "Consider the element carbon at the nanoscale. In nature, when carbon atoms are arranged one way you get a diamond. If they're put together another way, you get graphite." - Eleanor Imster, Earth and Sky Radio Series The discovery in 1985 of buckminsterfullerene (buckyball), opened a new era for the chemistry of carbon and for novel materials. The Japanese Sumi Ijima discovered nanotubes in 1991. The transition of nanotechnology research into manufactured products is limited today, but some products moved relatively quickly to the marketplace and already are having significant impact. The “jumbotron lamp,” that lights many of today's athletic stadiums is a nanotube-based light source. Additional products available today that benefit from the unique properties of nanoscale materials include: bumpers on cars, sunscreens and cosmetics, stain-free clothing and more. New applications of nanotechnology that are expected in two to five years are: • Implantable devices that automatically administer drugs and sense drug levels. • Cancer tagging mechanisms and real time diagnostics for physicians. • Sensors for airborne chemicals or other toxins. • Improved solar cells and fuel cells • Faster, smarter and inexpensive computers. The power of nanotechnology is in the manipulation of materials at the nanoscale. This enables scientists to alter the properties of materials to make them do new things and to invent materials not found in nature.

Types of Nanotechnology There are many different types of Nanotechnology available. In general they can be classified into the following categories: carbon nanotube, optical (or particle-wave based), crystalline, DNA, and quantum (see “The Age of the Spiritual Machine”, by Ray Kurzweil). Each of these categories has a significant impact in the study of Nanotechnology. You see, Nanotechnology is not just technology. It is the study of atoms, and the world as we know it. It is the ability to look deep into what and how basic elements are created and how they can be manipulated to benefit mankind.

21/3/2009 - Energy and Future of Energy

Most renewable energy comes either directly or indirectly from the sun. Solar energy can be used directly for heating and lighting, for generating electricity and a variety of commercial and industrial uses.

The sun's heat also drives the winds, whose energy is captured with wind turbines. Rain or snow flowing downhill into rivers or streams can be captured using hydropower.

The organic matter that makes up plants is known as biomass. Biomass can be used to produce electricity, transportation fuels, or chemicals. The use of biomass for any of these purposes is called biomass energy.

Hydrogen also can be found in many organic compounds, as well as water. It's the most abundant element on the Earth. But it doesn't occur naturally as a gas. It's always combined with other elements, such as with oxygen to make water. Once separated from another element, hydrogen can be burned as a fuel or converted into electricity.

Geothermal energy taps the Earth's internal heat for a variety of uses. And the energy of the ocean's tides comes from the gravitational pull of the moon and the sun upon the Earth.

In fact, ocean energy comes from a number of sources. In addition to tidal energy, there's the energy of the ocean's waves, which are driven by both the tides and the winds. The sun also warms the surface of the ocean more than the ocean depths, creating a temperature difference that can be used as an energy source. All these forms of ocean energy can be used to produce electricity.

National Renewal Energy Laboratory

21/3/2009 - Global Warming

The National  Academy of Sciences, a private organization of top scientists that advises the U.S. government on scientific matters, reported on June 22, 2006, that the "recent warmth is unprecedented for at least the last 400 years and potentially the last several millennia" and that "human activities are responsible for much of the recent warming".

The report goes on to say that from the start of the 20th century, there were sharp rises in the "greenhouse" gases, carbon dioxide and methane. These two gases are believed to be the main contributors to global warming, by trapping heat in the Earth's atmosphere, similar to the way that a windshield traps heat in a car.

What is producing enough greenhouse gases to change the climate of our planet? Since the industrial age began, factories, power plants, and cars have burned coal and gasoline. Spitting out an endless stream of carbon dioxide. We produce millions of pounds of methane by allowing our trash to decompose in landfills and from agricultural sources like cattle and fertilizer.

Scientists all over the world agree that humans are the cause of global warming and that it could have catastrophic effects. It is important for all countries to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases now, to limit the future effects of global warming.

As a society, we must break our dependency on fuels that cause pollution by supporting clean, renewable energy sources. Each of us can slow global warming by reducing the amount of energy we use and the pollution we produce as individuals every day. 

The Impacts of Global Warming

What effects will global warming have on the Earth and its inhabitants in the future? Are there any effects from global warming visible now?

Due to the enormous complexity of the atmosphere, the most useful tools for gauging future changes are 'climate models'. These are computer programs which simulate the climate's behavior.

Climate models are constantly improving based on both our understanding and the increase in computer power. However, climate models are just simulations and they can only be as good as the knowledge and skill of the people who create them. With that in mind, here are what some scientists are predicting as the potential consequences of global warming.

Earth

A number of geologists suggest that glacial melting due to climate change will release pressures in the Earth's crust, causing extreme geological events such as earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions.

Wind

The number of powerful and dangerous hurricanes could increase. Warmer water in the oceans pumps more energy into tropical storms, making them more intense and potentially more destructive.

Fire

Heat waves could be more frequent and severe. This could cause more heat related deaths. Warmer and dryer conditions could bring drought conditions and increase the risk of wildfires.

Reference www.futureforall.org             quoted by ANIL  AKIL