Interesting stats on EVs and energy use in the US, developments in wind and tidal power, a plastic recycling microfactory, and an "unprecedented collapse" in EU fossil fuel generation.
Researchers at the University of South Australia say they've designed a self-sustaining floating sea farm and successfully used it in a field test to produce freshwater from seawater while growing broccoli, lettuce, and bok choy without any human involvement.
As someone who lives in a coastal community where there’s not a huge amount of farmland, I’m always interested in solutions that could help us increase our local food security. But I wonder how scalable this particular floating farm concept is, and I’m curious about the claims that it uses only solar power and seawater to grow crops – especially since the picture used in the research article (posted above) seems to show a layer of soil for the plants to grow in.
I wonder what that growth medium is and whether it involves the use of fertilizer. If so, is there any risk of it leaking into the ocean around it? And how well could such farm be protected from intense ocean storms?
