Growing Crops in the Desert with Seawater | Freethink

[@burnyizland]

I came on here thinking you were going to show us a magical new way to water crops with saltwater and you STILL didn't disappoint. This is incredible!

[@ahmedopone4080]

As a Somali i am greatly interested in these technologies that deal with food production in whats considered unsuitable environments. I research a lot, specially the use of sea water. I can't say how happy I am to see such a project in Somaliland. Hore u socda walaalayaal oo guuleysta manshallah!!

[@freethink]

So glad you found our video! Thanks for commenting and best of luck - we hope you are able to do a lot with this technology!

[@WadcaWymiaru]

@@freethink watch this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/o3jYo6SnfLmAjZY - Begin With Biochar kzbin.info/www/bejne/rIakdpRqhLd0obs - terra preta (11:00- mined)

[@ahmedopone4080]

@@WadcaWymiaru Thanks mate. I'll check this out now!

[@ahmedopone4080]

@Sam Bone Thanks Sam. Vertical farming combined with this could be amazing!

[@WadcaWymiaru]

@@ahmedopone4080 There is more: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pmG8f3mkbqmfpcU - biochar power (beans and two farmers) kzbin.info/www/bejne/joLbpZuXl8qShbc - 2fold (old image from USA past) kzbin.info/www/bejne/a3TdpGahfp2FoZY - bamboo biochar (hill+mycorrhiza)

[@roberth.schweitzer2829]

What happens to the card board walls after they salt up? How often do they need to be replaced? How does this affect the cost? How do you dispose of the salty card board material in a closed cycle way?

[@muzairanwar]

Exactly my question. They made it sound so simple but the cardboard would salt up so quick! Secondly, I remember loving in saudi and using desert coolers to cool our houses. They work great in dry hot climates but in humid coastal areas where the salt water would be most available, those coolers didn't work at all. It would make more sense if they use the sun to distill sea water to irrigate crops.

[@zennvirus7980]

@@muzairanwar Plus, heating water produces steam, which can also be used to power turbines, which means more energy output.

[@johndliu2284]

One idea is to use the salted cardboard filters as building material, a type of drywall. I haven't seen it in extensive use but I have seen prototypes.

[@MohdAbuNaiyan]

Mote information on technology is required. They require a cardboard. Regards

[@3deeguy]

@@zennvirus7980 I would like to see steam turbines in America for off-grid electricity.

[@bardigan1]

This is exactly the kind of human ingenuity that's allowed us to expand to all corners of the globe. Fantastic!

[@henrypang67]

But if China helps them in achieving this then the Western world will be screaming bloody murder

[@msgsquirter]

Where are the corners of the globe located?

[@quantumtechcrypto7080]

its huge swamp cooler

[@mjscorn7943]

@@henrypang67 ???

[@timhofstetter5654]

Thereby destroying as much of it as possible.

[@adengbuhaybukidinAustralia]

Port Augusta in South Australia uses seawater in a green house to grow tomatoes in the desert.

[@TsarOfRuss]

i just read online today that some crops just need the salt level not to reach seawater level, like... you can mix sea water with fresh water 50/50 and some crops will grow perfectly fine.. it depends on the plant's tolerance to salt

[@3deeguy]

I'm not sure Australia should be seen as an example of sustainability. Australia also has major problems with rats and locusts.

[@patriciafisher1170]

@@3deeguy are you Australian. Regenerative farming is being used here by more and more farmers which heals the land

[@3deeguy]

@@patriciafisher1170 _"are you Australian."_ I have to assume you're not requiring Australian citizenship to have a valid view. Australian news is reported globally and some of the reports I've seen originate from Australia. Are there any Australian sources I should avoid?

[@patriciafisher1170]

@@3deeguy you are very touchy I was asking if you were Australian to find out where you live.

[@davidtangitau3771]

This is what we need to spend money on. Not countless useless social programs that tend to drain resources while allowing them to be abused. Science can literally lead humanity to no longer take so much from our planet while giving back nothing

[@samjones6258]

I love to see technology and innovation being used to help mankind....especially poor people.....rather than for weapons and destruction!

[@tomkelly8827]

I live in Canada so we have a lot of water here but I understand how big of an issue water is in much of the world. This seems like such a great plan, I am so glad to hear about this new ability to turn more of our deserts back into fertile, productive land again!

[@AliRavencoreAdam]

so basically they are using a swamp cooler to grow crops. Genius imo.

[@nachtkind46]

essentially, yes. pretty awesome, right?

[@RJ_P777]

A swamp cooler that can handle saltwater. Not as easy a task as using freshwater.

[@FreakyAngelus]

Not genius at all... poorly copied of things already in existence. - Sundrop Farms in Australia got operational with a 20 ha. seawater cooled semi-closed greenhouse... with indeed the same pads as used here (the horticultural industry calls them pads and not corrugated cardboard walls, LMFAO on that one). - Pad&Fan greenhouses have been in existence for decades... Nothing new on that part. - Using seawater is just not recommend as... they do salt up and that does create issues, regardless of what they said in their article. So, nothing new.

[@johnadams8371]

@@FreakyAngelus who pays you?

[@pauloneill9880]

@@johnadams8371 imperialist military industrial complex connected stooge I wonder. You can't starve men women and children of the poorest country in the world SOMALIA if they're self sufficient in food n fresh water.

[@samuelpezzetta7084]

Awesome invention! I am an environmental scientist myself and I would love to see how financially sustainable this project is. It looks very promising to me.

[@zavatone]

To realize this, walk into a warehouse that is cooled by evaporate cooling in the summer. At some point, the air gets so hot that it just ends up evaporating so much water that the air becomes humid. While that sucks for us, the air becomes humid and that's moisture in the air for plants.

[@damiann4734]

Have you heard of Sundrop, Port Augusta, South Australia?

[@aldomarioravinamayorga6804]

Please, can you tell me, what are they going to do with the salt remained.?

[@taliamusk433]

@@aldomarioravinamayorga6804 The brine that is left is made into salt and sold for a profit.

[@bradowen8862]

as easy as it sounds but it's not. it has a lot of maintenance. the cardboard needs to be replaced every time, hardened salt will eventually block the air passage

[@dayibhamza2670]

Good job welcome to our country republic of somaliland thanks for helping to our people

[@kaanyavuz6777]

Do you mean Somali? No one accepts Somaliland as a independent country as far as I see on web.

[@zakibayd4776]

@@kaanyavuz6777 millions of people accept somaliland around the world, jealousy aint getting you no where so search the web properly, we accept ourselves first and foremost

[@unlockwithjsr]

@@kaanyavuz6777 some do accept, like my country Kenya does

[@zzrgio]

@@kaanyavuz6777 who cares? UN doesn't accept Palestine but it is still there...

[@againsttyranny2149]

Somaliland means “ the land of Somalia” There are 5 main tribal residents in that region which was under the coloialisation of Britain, most of the Somali tribes fought against Britain forces and took their freedom. Somaliland United with their brothers in the south somaliland who got their freedom from Italy and formed Repulic of Somalia. Somalia went through a civil war fueled by foreign powers who wanted to suck vast economic resources that Somalia has. Isak tribe, which is one of the five the tribes in Somaliland is being used to claim that they represent the whole population of the somaliland by subjugating other tribes, and therefore fulfill Imperialistic agenda. The so-called Somaliland authority (SNM) sold ports, and many other Somali resources to the same foreign powers that installed them. The part of somaliland these junta control are suffering from all kinds abuse. They can’t speak freely and they are subjugated to obey the harsh Jeegaan rule.

[@rebeccaji5917]

Glad to see Charlie here :). I am so glad to supply the evaporating pad and solar power system to this project, your team are honorable, made a great effort in it, overcome many difficulties, good luck to your team!

[@asheru9254]

Humanity says thank you ✊🏾 🇰🇪

[@jmccOutdoors]

To all the negative salty people here ( pun intended ). The salt would build up yes. The next step would be to convert that into sellable salt I would think. 2nd this is the entire point of research and development. Research means to use the salt productively and perhaps use those funds to pay for cost and maintenance. Develop better cardboard to have less frequent need to replace.

[@EternallyGod]

Dont think, your thinking hasnt got you anywhere. Either you know or you dont know. Wishing something is true or real isnt the same as it being true or real. If you believe in it, then fund it and become a billionaire. Thing is people like you just talk, then talk some more and talk more....stick your money where your mouth is for once....just once.

[@jadeyes1]

I've been working on something similar using solar desalination to produce salt while providing water to my plants. Good to see this. I started from the perspective of resources at hand and potential salable commodities. The value of the recovered salt offsets the water production . Before going solar it cost me 72 cents a kilo for the salt and this included the waste by product of 15 liters of free water

[@jerrypowell2359]

This is dated 2018... what is the status now? How about an update video? Great idea!

[@chevychase3103]

Are they still Pirates?

[@TheSovietBear97]

Port Augusta in South Australia have a large tomato farm that is watered by ocean water. Check it out.

[@Jim_Snape]

It was attacked and seized after a feud JK-

[@gregederer6945]

There's this. Not dated, weirdly. But, the article references the pandemic in passing. So, it must be fairly recent. www.bbc.com/future/bespoke/follow-the-food/how-our-food-can-fix-the-planet.html

[@andrewvoya5234]

Oh my goodness !!! Something positive and so useful for masses of people on the planet, why isn’t this talked about to the same level as the doom and gloom we get every day ?

[@berndarndt9924]

It doesn´t get as many clicks/views.

[@timmoore6055]

why isn’t this talked about to the same level as the doom and gloom we get every day ? Gloom and doom (aka blood ad guts) has been the leading news of the last several millennia, since people associated in large communities. Most media now is profit oriented, whether that is print news or on the internet. Information is out there, but the "news" doesn't seen information pushing viewing. Gloom and doom does.

[@Mic_Glow]

Possibly because the "cool house" benefit isn't 10-100x less water (for the whole system, not just the crop- cooling paper walls also use water and probably can't run on saltwater) as they claim, and it doesn't make desalination economically viable. Or it's being tested. Still, the 10-100x claim seems too good to be true.

[@GoddessRubyJade]

Honestly love this, I truly hope this can change the world!

[@bingosunnoon9341]

It will change the world all right but not for the better.

[@special4076]

Been using the gravity fed water closed loop system and fan cooling in greenhouses for cooling and humidity control since the 1970's that I know of. These cool houses were old then. Probably built in the 1940's. Used to cool plants before flowering to get them to have larger buds and then move them to hot houses to force the bloom all at once for sale. The plants would gradually bloom without this process. The full blooms at once obtained a better market value. The system I worked with used 4' x 4' vertical filters like green scrubber pads with larger openings. They were easily cleaned and reused.

[@combativeThinker]

This is Nobel Prize material, right here. I hope this system is widely adopted and used.

[@generalharness8266]

Its not because its not worth it. 1, ongoing costs = carboard replacement, water pumps maintenance (salt water degrades metals faster then fresh). 2, set up costs one off so not really worth mentioning, but plastics for cover, cost of equipment. 3, skilled farmers, its a country that does not have a lot of farmers experienced with the crops it could grow, I imagine training incentives would be needed. 4, lack of control, the system is almost enterally dependent on the outside. 5, does not reduce the cost of growing crops, only makes it possible to grow eg a lettuce grown overseas will cost 30 cents to grow it will still cost that 30 cents plus this set up on top of that. I would argue it would cost more then that due to lack of resources for farming. I view it like oil extraction, there are processes that are really expensive but because they are not economical viable they are not off the ground. Real world its got to make someone money to be worth doing, this does not do that so investment is not going to happen.

[@richardlinares6314]

@@generalharness8266 1, 2, 5 : Wah?! Things cost money? Mind blown! Clearly just as with conventional greenhouses there will be calculations for what kinds of crops are most appropriate to be grown. Smaller high yeild crops for the area/water usage. 3: If you're going to pretend 1000s of these farms will appear instantaneously, can you also pretend the farmers will be trained instantaneously? SMH 4: Sounds like every other farm in existence. It probably isn't the panacea some hope for(nothing is), but a good potential option. Not sure what your alternative is, starvation? Depending on the overfished ocean?(ie. starvation) Waiting for benevolent countries to save them in perpetuity?(ie. starvation)

[@CaptainManic2010]

game changing innovation...using cardboard, seawater...and a desert... dude...I want to be like you when I grow up... This is straight out of a macgyver episode...all you needed was toothpaste, an elastic band...some gum...and he saved the world.

[@tongsingwu5558]

Is their any written papers about how they’re getting water

[@freethink]

Here's some more info: www.globalwaterforum.org/2012/05/28/seawater-greenhouse-a-new-approach-to-restorative-agriculture/ www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0011916417302400?via%3Dihub Hope it answers your questions!

[@tongsingwu5558]

Thanks

[@Aoraki09Cottage]

Love the idea! Use of solar powered pumps to pump the seawater inland would green the project further. The. Seawater could be distilled via the desert heat to produce fresh water for irrigation and salt to sell. Brilliant!

[@Knee-Lew]

I didn't even think about usint seawater to humidify the crops... But this guy showed us the way to combine evaporator and seawater to cool down the crops, and they might even change the climate somewhere in the future!

[@victorrain]

And sea salt can be taken from the evaporators as well!

[@hans-joachimbierwirth4727]

@@victorrain "can"... what for do you think your brain is? Using that thing as intended doesn't hurt!

[@groblerful]

What a great Idea. In Holland Duch farmers in Freezland have developed crops which can be irrigated with dilute salt water 50/50. Some can even be irrigted with salt water alone apparently. All done by years of natural selection for salt tolerance.Good crops of potatoes are now being grown on land in Pakistan formally too salty to support normal plants.

[@mor8266]

This solution has been available for many years, I wonder why it is now that it is gaining traction. This is true for the US and other country with large deserts.

[@vondahe]

400M USD is a drop in the bucket. The problem with many parts of Africa is that there are too many people who are bent on destroying anything that benefits someone they don't like, so even if the West decided to give this facility to Somaliland, some crazy guy is almost guaranteed to destroy it sooner or later. It is not without reason Somaliland looks the way it does. And just to set the record straight, I have nothing but sympathy for those who live under these awful circumstances. We would just need to find a solution that could ensure that won't happen.

[@gnarlytreeman]

Nice way of doing things. It would work really well if the salt didn't contaminate the soil from using a big cheap swampcooler. It might be better to recycle glass and aluminum into passive desalination panels, and reform plastics into drip irrigation pipe. It takes a lot more land, but in desert areas thats ok. Also, I suggest doing permaculture swales, with drip irrigation for trees, and only using plants with light green leaf coloration to reduce temperature in the local climate. Things like date palms, pistachios, even pecans, almonds, and edible cactai, and hardy soil fixing cover crops like barley. Barley straw would be a great starter chop and drop, to add soil carbon and water preservation. Eventually a fast growing chop and drop plant like moringa, or sorgum-sudan grass, or lemongrass, or perhaps a local desert plant, or something like mesquite, would need to be used to feed the soil. Even cassava could be used for a chop and drop soil protection. The best idea though is barley. Harvest the tops, then use a roller to flatten it down, and resow for the next season with a roller seeder. After a few season there will be a dense vegetation mat with plenty of nutrient for tree varieties. Continue replanting barley as the trees grow, and when the trees are big, plant something else that's fire safe, like beans, or peanuts, or continue with barley. Vegetation attracts and holds water, if the right plants are used. Just don't let any animals graze after harvest for a few years. 5 or 10 or so, and when and if you do, practice migration pattern grazing.

[@celibate0]

Great ideas. Thanks, man. You just wrote a paper on the subject. Can I incorporate that into my work?

[@gnarlytreeman]

Ya, sure, the best ideas are borrowed or stolen.

[@장길진-d9v]

감사합니다.

[@freethink]

감사합니다 ❤️

[@souvenirpinrang4]

In the Sahara Desert there are no clouds because no air vapor turns into clouds but I found a strange appearance in the middle of the Sahara Desert in the Niger region there is a small collection of clouds passing in the middle of the Sahara Desert of the Niger region and then watched closely there is a dense forest under the clouds Located in the estuary of Mount Air Mountaint which often gets annual light rain and the water is sponsored in a puddle in the valley until it turns into a forest. The Sahara Desert is making an artificial forest in a border valley (ridge) as wide as 20 km long and repairing rocky hills in the middle of the Sahara Desert. When it rains on the mainland, it is an ancient river upstream, the air will automatically return to the ancient river which dried up thousands of years ago, shifting the earth's axis

[@Seminolerick]

Interesting, yet leaves a lot of questions… some: - is the same salt water constantly recirculated ? - spent water goes where ? - how long until the evaporator wall gets clogged and needs replacing ? Etc.

[@jgdooley2003]

I recall reading about water irrigation schemes in Australia using artesian wells and pumped ground water to irrigate crops. The water had mineral salts in it which eventually accumulated in the soils due to evaporation and ruined the soils eventually. A similar sustainability problem could exist in this scheme. Regarding the present security situation in Somalia, how do you prevent warlords and their gangs from destroying these greenhouses?

[@elmerkilred159]

@@jgdooley2003 You're so positive. Did you vote for Trump, perchance?

[@jgdooley2003]

@@elmerkilred159 I could not have voted for the Don as I do not live in and I am not a citizen of the USA, although I have second cousins in the scrap metal trade in New Jersey and neighbours family members in DC. Nice country and nice people, of all shades of political opinion. Positivity is fine but you need to look at why this was not done in the recent past and what are the ongoing technical problems. I woud try talking to the Australians to make sure this scheme does not hit a similar pitfall.

[@funny-video-YouTube-channel]

*Wonderful invention.* We need this to feed the world. We can be more happy as a culture, if have enough food and water for at least basic life.

[@ryanmcewen415]

It's the KISS principle. Keep it stupid simple. This is a very basic air cooler that has existed in one form or another for a long time. The fact that it lowers temperature and increases humidity is perfect for desert growing.. Love this idea

[@itsalwayscloseenought1217]

We really appreciate for helping us. Thank you 🙏

[@LaughingGravy.01]

i met chalie paton ove 20 yeas ago. i was blown away by this concept. i thought it would be more widespread by now

[@SD-tj5dh]

Is the water that's stored potable, or able to be made potable? I could imagine a solar powered OSEC unit being used to convert brine to sodium hypochlorite which can be used to treat any excess water for potable use. You could also install other solar thermal applications alongside to increase yield of water when conditions allow.

[@freethink]

Hi David! Good thoughts and thanks for asking. The folks at Seawater Greenhouse actually elaborated on this a bit in some of the other comments. To quote from their responses to Rachel Bell: "Evaporating seawater to create fresh water vapour in our greenhouses cools and humidifies the air, reducing irrigation requirement around 10 times. We produce around 2-4 cubic meters of fresh water per day to service our farm in Somaliland..." "We use the brine to produce marketable, culinary grade sea salt. So no water is pumped back to the ocean!" Hope this is informative and thanks so much for watching!

[@ohfuku]

Thank god this is still on youtube & why are more governments not talking about this?

[@edouardomaindargent7685]

For once, and really once, I think technology has a real interest in agriculture and food sovereignty. This kind of technology should be used to recreate water self-sufficient micro-zones as oasis. The greenhouse would be a tool to build a cultivated ecosystem ALSO outside of the plastics. With desert adapted trees who can create micro-climate, making a cooler atmosphere above their boughs, build healthy soil with organic matte rproduced, and making agriculture possible over time.

[@GabGotti3]

Even tho Africa is the birth of civilization, their location and weather has held them back throughout humanity. Rough deal.

[@LaxiusOne]

Yeah. Civilization may be birthed in Africa, but it developed and florished in more suitable parts of the world.

[@AaronNel]

You should put links to the person and project in this video so others can follow up on this. even if it is just credits at the end of the video or something. Please

[@20sarbast]

thank you God for these people creating these kind of technologies which can solve the problems of many.God bless you all

[@foxxtail06]

How long does that cardboard last?

[@freethink]

Great question! From the Science and Development Manager of the Sahara Forest Project, another one Seawater Greenhouse is helping build: "The cardboard evaporative pads will need to be changed out eventually, but not often. In the early Seawater Greenhouse built in Oman, the original pads were still working after more than two years. When they do require replacement, the retired pads will be re-used - potentially as building materials." More info: blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/02/18/seawater-greenhouses-produce-tomatoes-in-the-desert/

[@SeawaterGreenhouse]

Hello! The pads last up to 7 years or more. Calcium build up on the cardboard actually helps to increase the lifespan of the material by giving it structure and rigidity.

[@bruce-le-smith]

I love the simplicity of this idea, thanks! Reminds me of staying at the farm house of a friend's family in northern Uttar Pradesh, they had a great air-conditioner made out of neem twigs with a fan and some drip irrigation - It provided such nice air! I can see how that would benefit plants too.

[@trido3815]

Edible seaweed grows in sea water. Can we use that gene to grow crops?

[@brettb9194]

if you extract much vapor the salinity would quickly rise - but seaweed by its nature is designed to keep salt out, interesting to know where the limits are (one economic two function)

[@BPmmxFX]

Brilliant... not only that the water cools the air, but also humidifies it by evaporation, and this humidity is also being absorbed by the plants, needing less watering...

[@MyInfotainmentFix]

Interesting idea. How do they dispose left over saline water?

[@freethink]

Good question! "Nutrients harvested from the brine are pumped back into the irrigation system to fertilize the crops, and the rest of the salt is made into gourmet salt crystals that Seawater Greenhouse Ltd. sells." -blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/02/18/seawater-greenhouses-produce-tomatoes-in-the-desert/

[@yahseek]

I’m all in and I love this idea. I wonder if non-GMO seeds and/or even the seeds of indigenous wild herbs and edible plants (food) can be planted using this method?

[@fourthright]

Where can i learn more about this. Anywhere we can contact to buy or lease those things.

[@freethink]

The website for the project is www.seawatergreenhouse.com

[@nicmantayib8688]

this great development it will help many parts of the world to do more in food shortages , and thank you very for the invention and your interest to support my country Somaliland with this kind of technology, we welcome you and will help you what ever support we can do for this kind of projects .

[@pharax1012]

Nicman Tayib, somaliland it's not a country Is the northwest region of Somalia 🇸🇴 and don't be pathetic and waiting for handouts.

[@thecoder7188]

Thanks for helping our brothers from Somaliland somalia

[@geraldkatz2000]

Excellent way to cool and add moisture needed for temperate plants to survive in hot dry climates. Shade houses are used in our area with wall of evaporative media, wall of fans on other end. More complex but more amazing Sahara Forest project is enclosed with fan wall opposite evaporation with CONDENSER pipes to extract distilled water from saturated air leaving greenhouse. Cool moist exhaust air from greenhouse allows many other plants grown outside to do far better than in hot dry ambient air.

[@fionna5342]

We're not doomed, but the transition into the next world will be difficult for those who resist. Just gotta get back to nature and work smarter, not harder

[@heureka4772]

Modern civilization / society is sick: Collective Neurosis / Disease of Society. Healing is possible.

[@rstephe]

Great idea. I wonder what the cost would be like to repair and maintain this would be? I bet once they are producing enough it would pay for itself to be maintained. Is the soil fertile enough to grow a good crop?

[@dumky]

What happens to the cardboard wall once it is saturated with salt?

[@freethink]

Great question! From the Science and Development Manager of the Sahara Forest Project, another one Seawater Greenhouse is helping build: "The cardboard evaporative pads will need to be changed out eventually, but not often. In the early Seawater Greenhouse built in Oman, the original pads were still working after more than two years. When they do require replacement, the retired pads will be re-used - potentially as building materials." More info: blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/02/18/seawater-greenhouses-produce-tomatoes-in-the-desert/

[@dumky]

@@freethink Thanks

[@SeawaterGreenhouse]

Hi Julien. Concentrated brine is collected and harvested to produce sea salt that is sold to market. Some calcium can build up on the cardboard, which helps give the wall strength and lengthen the life of the material. Every once in a while the calcium must be dissolved.

[@askannav2094]

What a great solution to a genuine problem.. & no Bill Gates ponzi scheme in sight .. May this project truely succeed!!

[@soundstuff253]

Im wondering how much water theyre actually having to use in the place(s) that theyve implented this. Is there data for that? Guess ill have to investigate

[@freethink]

Good question: there's some information here: blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/02/18/seawater-greenhouses-produce-tomatoes-in-the-desert/ "The Sahara Forest Project will use water from the Red Sea in seawater greenhouses to produce fresh water for the crops and grow algae in open ponds for fuel and food. The project will also grow halophytes, plants tolerant of salty conditions, that have potential to be an energy crop. Because each 10,000 square meters of seawater greenhouse evaporates 50 tons of water daily, the greenhouse will help restore vegetation on the surrounding arid land through ventilating the “lost” humidity to create a cooler and more humid micro-climate downwind of the greenhouse. The “lost” humidity will also increase the chance for precipitation in the area. The algae, crops and other plants will sequester carbon dioxide from the air. Extra fresh water produced by the seawater greenhouse will be heated by a concentrated solar power plant (CSP), generating steam that will turn a turbine to produce electricity. The CSP’s excess heat will be used to desalinate seawater for drinking water. A single Sahara Forest Project facility with 50 MW of concentrated solar power and 50 hectares of seawater greenhouses would produce 34,000 tons of produce, employ over 800 people, export 155 GWh of electricity and sequester more than 1,500 tons of CO2 each year. If the demonstration project is successful, Aqaba will provide 200 hectares for a larger scale facility."

[@zavatone]

But you pump out the water with higher salt content back to the ocean.

[@soundstuff253]

@@freethink Thanks for the info!

[@SeawaterGreenhouse]

Hi Rachel! Evaporating seawater to create fresh water vapour in our greenhouses cools and humidifies the air, reducing irrigation requirement around 10 times. We produce around 2-4 cubic meters of fresh water per day to service our farm in Somaliland

[@SeawaterGreenhouse]

Hi @@zavatone. We use the brine to produce marketable, culinary grade sea salt. So no water is pumped back to the ocean!

[@gameragedad8953]

Out of all the words I could think of to describe this man, excited was about last on my list. He looks like he just woke up and came out of his casket to say hello.

[@gteea]

If the sea water was blown into a chamber with clear plastic, the sun's heat would cause evaporation this desalination would occur. A cheap was of desalination.

[@norbertfleck812]

Your idea needs far more space than the system in the video. Their trick is to produce extremely humid air inside the greenhouse, so the plants need only very little fresh water.

[@amundalfredsen3479]

It looks a lot like The Sahara Forest Project! Great concept👏🏻

[@brocksamson3282]

the evaporators will become clogged with the remaining salt, after the water evaporates.

[@thegentilehunter]

salt is water soluble, so it would remix with the water, after enough time if the salt is able to built up to silly levels it can be scraped off and sold or used.

[@stickmanbrains]

@@thegentilehunter Salt isn't water soluble when the water is already saturated with salt

[@thegentilehunter]

@@stickmanbrains it's a good thing sea water isn't completely saturated with salt.

[@ritcheymt]

I live less than 5 miles from the Great Salt Lake. One issue I imagine here is that running seawater continuously through a cardboard "swamp cooler filter" will clog that filter with salt in a relatively short period of time as the water evaporates from it, necessitating the replacement of the filter. Is that this corporation's business model -- to sell a lot of filters? Or is there some component in this system that will desalinize the water before running it through the filter? Because desalinization of water at the rate I'm imagining for a system this large may also tend to be pricey.

[@foamer443]

They replied above the cardboard lasts 7 years.

[@jimbaranski4687]

The cardboard I not a FILTER! It’s merely a medium to distribute the water to a large surface area for it to evaporate into the air. Actually, this would work for desalination as well. Most of the work of desalination is getting the water to evaporate. You can then cool the wet air to condense the pure water out of the air. This method uses a large surface area to do this and the ambient temperature, instead of a lot of heat to boil the water. The question remains what happens to the salt and wet air? Is the salt collected? Does the wet air stay in the ‘cool house, or does it get exhausted. If you did this of a large scale, could you humidify a desert? What would that accomplish?

[@hifive1515]

At last a positive video ✌

[@bradowen8862]

as easy as it sounds but it's not. it has a lot of maintenance. the cardboard needs to be replaced every time, hardened salt will eventually block the air passage

[@hifive1515]

@@bradowen8862 I didn't say it was easy😳

[@rexdrabble4988]

@@bradowen8862 Rinse with the air that passed through by condensing it on the outlet

[@bradowen8862]

@@rexdrabble4988 no

[@ezzatelbially8736]

what happens to the salts accumulated in those cardboard walls? how often does it need to be cleaned or replaced?

[@danielrose1392]

You don't have to accumulate any salt to make this work. Sea water contains on average about 3.5% salt, which gives you a lot of evaporation until your solution is saturated (~26%). So you have to replace the water before it reaches that salt concentration, then salt built up won't be a major issue.

[@ABC-yt1nq]

Fascinating!

[@ChrisWeaver10]

It's a swamp cooler to cool and humidify the greenhouse. Still would need fresh water to water the plants. But, good idea.

[@Iamwolf134]

10 times less water at that.

[@Iamwolf134]

Not to mention the fact that marketable, culinary grade sea salt can also be produced this way.

[@darrenstettner5381]

Seems like they’d still have any issue with salt buildup and erosion of the cardboard walls.

[@imthinking25]

Per an article in The Engineer (www.theengineer.co.uk/greenhouse-uses-seawater-to-grow-crops-in-arid-places/), the cardboard is designed so that “Salt and other minerals collect in the base of the wall where they can be harvested and sold.” So the answer appears to be that the cardboard doesn’t need to be replaced.

[@Elwin3918]

I thought of this some time ago. And seen it made feasible is amazing . We could finally find a way to terraform deserts , like the Chinese projects.👍🏾🙏🏾

[@ilrassoemil9854]

That is brilliant!

[@robnewman6101]

Wow.

[@JM-oo3rb]

Imagine the possibilities if aid agencies funded these kinds of projects instead of just handing out food! They may eventually become redundant.

[@jayuppercase3398]

When you consider the canaria islands, big holiday destination for Europeans, get the majority of their water from desalination it shows that desalination plants can produce enormous amounts of water. A huge desalination plant near the sea and a few hundred miles of pipe and you can create lakes inland in desert regions which in turn, once filled, can be used to green the area

[@christophvonwaldhuf]

have you ever heard of a electricity bill? desalination as of now uses enormous amount of electricity made by fossile fuel

[@madaxe79]

There's so much of the story missing that it wreaks of scam...

[@simoncoker3180]

It's no scam, I saw a very small scale trail of this method in Cyprus in the 1990s - it works brilliantly. Then they weren't usinv solar power for the pumps, just an old 2 stroke deisel(which were still widely used then to pump water from boreholes). There it was set up close to the beach and make use of the predictable onshore winds.

[@Free_Falastin2024]

Yeah, for one, there's no such thing as Somaliland. There's only one Somalia.

[@werenostrangerstolove7739]

Lmao the guy cries scam when his name screams scam

[@kifer2594]

No it’s just that with this method people can not be scammed out of their money

[@kifer2594]

Because Africa “needs money”

[@faisalfarooqkhan6751]

Great idea! It is amazing to see how simple the technology is and could be adopted anywhere in the world. Is the one in Somaliland still functioning? Are there more of these built? Where?

[@jgdooley2003]

It has to be simple and use local materials and techniques and labour as much as possible. There was a Danish inventor who emphasised the use of local materials, for example prickly bushes instead of imported barbed wire in arid areas of Africa. Another idea was to make and use hand operated water pumps from locally sourced materials and recycled old tires rather than using expensive imported water pumps powered by electricity, which broke down often and could not be fixed easily or cheaply. I once worked with a South African technician who fixed everything and refurbished everything to a high enough standard to allow the reuse of equipment that would otherwise be dumped. He said that South African sanctions made all technical people very knowledgeable and changed the mind-set to repair and recycle long before it was fashionable to do so in the West. All too often repair people just change out complete assemblies rather than trying to get down to the smallest possible part needed. Time and labour costs do not allow in-depth troubleshooting and repair in many cases. This is not the case in many 3rd world countries where labour is inexpensive, knowledge can be high and parts are expensive.

[@celibate0]

@@jgdooley2003 Big Corporations and fat cats won't allow that. If we start to follow your ideas then no more billionaires, my friend. They're not interested in solving problems. They're interested in making more money at the expense of other people. Think not of a technical solution. There are plenty already. Think of how to please the vicious money hungry and powerfully corrupt elites. They're the ones who running the world and deciding war and peace. They are the problem.

[@jgdooley2003]

@@celibate0 I knew a person who had a theory that everyone who makes a lot of money should be thoroughly investigated and the source of their non typical wealth should drive law reforms to make sure other people do not follow their example and make untypically large amounts of money at the expense of ordinary workers in ordinary jobs being unable to afford even basic levels of housing, health and food. Many countries now have rules governing political donations and advertising in a bid to stop large corporations and billionaires dominating political opinion and choice. Other countries dedicate a part of their tax authorities to policing the affairs of high net worth individuals. Getting the balance right between outrageously high standards of living for a tiny elite and allowing others to live is a tricky one to solve.Well beyond my pay-grade.

[@ambertracks]

GOV'T WONT DO THIS because then that would allow people to have independence , freedom and not be oppressed , and if they did allow it / fund it , they would soon regulate it so badly with rules n laws n taxes n fines that the costs would sky rocket from that , or they would want to control it like the internet or sway those that controlled it in order to further attempt to control it's subjects like they do with the media and now facebook , youtube n twitter with censorship , , if gov't really cared about people they would not have suppressed free wireless electricity invented 100 years ago by tesla , they would make cigarettes and alcohol and abortion illegal because of all the sickness and death associated with it , they would not overdose people with drugs because of kick backs from big pharma , education and healthcare would be free and God n Pray n 10 commandments would be EVERYWHERE IN THE PUBLIC EYE , , ,WAKE UP FOLKS, IF YOU EXPECT THE GOV'T TO HELP , , , REALLY HELP , DON'T HOLD YOUR BREATH, , ,give your life to Jesus Christ and don't worry about this infected world of corruption and greed. www.adventist.org

[@Alittlebitinteresting]

Lol nice but maybe take the trolling to a different video. Most people here won't get that you're joking please I pray to god that you're being a troll

[@aimit8727]

that was exactly what i was thinking, everyone says we will run out of water, but water doesn't just go away from earth it just goes in seas and oceans, and humans can develop a technology that removes salt from sea water using the principle of (evaporating/vaporizing and condensing the water).

[@ronaldpamparo9118]

The answer to both fresh water shortage and reliable crop management, we pray that this kind of tech is applied and implemented as much as defence related work. When everybody has food, no need for wars. 🤔

[@elmtree33]

I like the idea that possibly the cardboard could be made from recycled paper as well as recycling the cardboard used. Add to that packaging and selling the mineral byproducts removed from the water and the whole idea is pretty awesome. I hope further investment will be made to bring this technology to financial sustainability.

[@eriknielsen1849]

Living in a contry where 70 % of the food is imported. But water 1 meter under my feed I as a Danish guy shake my head that I'm surrounded by dessert. But takin things in my own hands I have now started a very small test garden and so faar it goes fine. With the food cricis coming seeds will become more valuable than gold

[@samohtsolacad229]

In the Philippines , many small Islands have trees and coconuts. They are naturally mainland plants but how are they getting the regular water when they are practically surrounded with salty sea water. those living plants must have evolved to be able to filter salty water.

[@thegiggler2]

This is pretty revolutionary.

[@tammychristinerager]

Good idea! I LOVE it.

[@freethink]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@daveb4446]

These filters are already used for cooling farm animals with salt water, so they definitely work. They’re just using forced air powered and not passive. But if the airflow can be produced naturally, no problem

[@oldtimefarmboy617]

Salt is also a valuable commodity. As the water evaporates from the cardboard it leaves the salts and other important minerals (some of which are used to increase the yield of food crops and trees) in the cardboard which can be processed and sold on the world markets. The paper pulp can be reprocessed into a form that can be sold and used as fuel for cooking or power plants. And then if you dehumidify the air as it leaves the structure you will have purified water for the crops.

[@rexdrabble4988]

Very interesting,esp the dehumidfying part. So the mosit air performs two functions

[@johngordon8295]

So what happens to the salty cardboard as the water evaporates ? Please explain.

[@freethink]

After the water evaporates, the salt is harvested and sold. The goal is for it to be zero discharge. www.bbc.com/future/bespoke/follow-the-food/the-people-creating-an-oasis-with-seawater.html

[@flowrob6861]

This idea will be NEEDED in California next year

[@tabortollefson]

I have some experience with evaporative cooling in greenhouses in a hot desert but we used ground water. How do they handle mineral buildup on the pads? I imagine minerals dissolved in sea water are easier to deal with than than those in hard water but there's a lot more in seawater.

[@disposabull]

Yeah I'm deeply sceptical of these guys. They built their first Seawater Greenhouse in 1992 and 30 years later they are still totally reliant on funding from government projects? We spend trillions of dollars per year growing food, many billions per year growing food in greenhouses and many billions desalinating seawater. If "just spray sea water on to some corrugated cardboard" worked many banks would be offering them many billions for their amazing tech...

[@OpenBiolabsGuy]

What about crops that don’t require the water to be desalinated? Like seaweed?

[@richardlinares6314]

There are some companies using saltwater ponds to grow algae for food. I think they make a protein powder with it. Not sure why algae still isn't cheap though.

[@randalfriesen4515]

So using the heat to humidify the air using sea water is a really great idea. But could one also not have a radiator somewhere in the process running cool sea water through it and passing the humidified water through it condensing it and thus making clean water for irrigation of the crops to be grown or even drinking water?

[@mlove.97]

Wow, but what happens with the brine from the seawater? Isn't that the big issue with desalination process? Does that get wasted somewhere along with the board collecting it?? 💗🙏🌎

[@WaterspoutsOfTheDeep]

Another issue is these people in third world countries where they can't even sustain themselves or grow food are having too many children.

[@BevenOiCarrinuinn]

Wonder what they do with the salt saturated cardboard and how often it needs to be changed?

[@referencefool6525]

Any Part2 / progress- or success-report?

[@freethink]

We have a couple of additional articles about seawater farming! You can read them here: www.freethink.com/energy/solar-saltwork www.freethink.com/energy/sea-beans

[@StupidPeasant]

How do you clean the salt and other minerals from the cooler pads and other components and what do you do with it? It seems this would be a major issue.

[@themogget8808]

So the swamp cooler evaporates (desalinates) the water and then it rains or is just humid inside the greenhouse? Is it that easy? And it works on site in these conditions?

[@qwertyasf]

Looks like an energy intensive process. Also where do the salt deposits go?

[@jasonsweet1868]

On your chips with a splash of vinegar

[@ninana143]

As an Islander who import almost all pur food. Our land is dry, coraly, and salty almost accidic. This would be amazing! To reduce the temperature and amount of water needed.

[@tomellis4750]

Heard of growing crops in an underwater greenhouse, situated near the surface of a warm, shallow sea. It would take the form of a waterproof dome. Evaporation would condense onto the glass, to be channelled to the plants. More hi-tech than this fine idea. Have not heard of it's application.

[@mugnuz]

yep cause contructing that is fucking expensive...

[@floridastuff8916]

Ok. You have an evaporator in a greenhouse. That's been used for ever. Where does the saltwater come in to play? Are you running it through the evaporator and if so, how are you cleaning up the salt that gets absorbed in the mess?

[@Friedfoodie]

This is wonderful. Any more news on this?

[@georgehill3087]

The Chinese have crossbred rice into somewhat sea water tolerant. Not genetically modified btw. Still need to filter some of the salt out, but it was capable of producing rice at roughly 70% of the yield of their regular rice. Not sure about other crops.

[@MrArnoud75]

Good job, very innovative and a good way to feed the people in difficult area's. What kind of pumps are you using for the seawater?

[@dreuglover]

Fantastic, California and Australia would find this useful .....