Offshore Vertical Farms

A Vision of Sustainability

In a world grappling with the challenges of sustainable living and efficient food production, one idea I can offer is the air-floating offshore vertical farm.

The Daisy of the Sea

Imagine a structure, floating not on water but soaring above it, presenting no barrier to shipping and immune from the ferocity of the sea, resembling a daisy in its form and function. At its core is a vertical farm, stretching upwards, a tower of green teeming with life. Its ‘petals’ are not ordinary leaves, but panels of advanced solar technology, harnessing the sun’s energy to breathe life into this floating marvel.

Self-Sustaining and Efficient

At the heart of this structure lies the vertical farm, a testament to modern agricultural techniques. Layers upon layers of crops grow in a controlled internal environment, shielded from pests and harsh weather, more robust ones on the outside. It’s a perfect example of precision agriculture, where every drop of water and ray of light is optimized for maximum yield.

This offshore vertical farm is the epitome of sustainability. Powered by the sun, it could grow a plethora of crops, providing abundant food without the burden of land use. By elevating the farm above the sea, it avoids the pitfalls of traditional agriculture — no land degradation, no deforestation, just pure, efficient farming. We could use our seas to grow food, and give more of the land back to nature.

Vertical farms convert solar energy to power LEDs with the light frequencies needed by plants. With the outside of the farm covered in plants too, the centre makes a visually appealing green centre for our daisy.

Solar Petals

The solar panel petals are not just power sources; they are integral to the farm’s ecosystem. They provide the energy needed to run the farm’s operations, from lighting to irrigation. This synergy of food and energy production creates a cycle of sustainability that is crucial for our planet’s future.

Rainwater can be gathered by the petals and piped inside. If that isn’t enough, electricity from the panels can power desalination.

Floating High for a Reason

Elevating the farm above the sea serves multiple purposes. It ensures that the structure does not interfere with marine life or shipping routes. Being offshore also means it is free from the shadows of tall buildings or mountains, making solar energy collection more efficient.

A Blueprint for the Future

This offshore vertical farm shows how we can produce food and energy in harmony with our environment. It’s a stepping stone to a future where nature and technology exist in balance, providing for humanity’s needs without compromising the health of our planet. I can imagine countries with abundant territorial waters using solar daisies to produce hugely more food than they can today, with less environmental impact.

New type of wind harvester

I am moving old blogs across from nvireuk before I close it next month so that I don’t lose them. Here is another. Please don’t take it from this one that I am in favour of wind turbines. I most certainly am not, but if we must use wind power to appease renewable fans, then at least we should do it in ways that are less irritating to humans and wildlife and a little imagination can go a long way with today’s technology compared to the primitive, almost Victorian heavy engineering used for conventional turbines. This method should be a lot quieter, less visually intrusive, about the same efficiency but unlike wind turbines, potentially able to reduce in cost with Moore’s Law. Initial cost would be similar (the costings I mention are based just on their sample prices, which obviously are usually far higher than finished large scale production), so still nowhere near as good as using shale gas, but it could be. Even then, we’d still need backup generation for when the wind isn’t blowing.

Conventional wind energy harvesting uses turbines on a grand scale, connected to a central motor. The whole thing needs heavy engineering, complex control systems and expensive and scarce materials such as neodymium for the motors. It is possible to build a system that is far more elegant, resource-efficient and less intrusive. Perhaps even much cheaper.

Some time ago a Danish company Danfoss, invented plastic capacitors, that generate electrical energy directly when they are bent. Wind pressure could be used to bend small vanes made of this material by pushing it around a spindle. As it rotates, one side goes through extended, the other side is forced to bend on the way back through the gap. By repeated bending and extending every time it rotates, each vane would generate electricity from the wind. These could be arranged in long strings, and many strings made up into a large sail.

The sail would be tethered to an anchor using ropes, and when the wind blows, it would fill up, the vanes would rotate, and energy would be harvested, with no need for a central motor or any heavy engineering. When the wind dies down, the sail would collapse so that it is less visible. Because the vanes individually would be small, just 5-10 centimetres across, no motion would be visible from any distance away, so they would not be as distracting as conventional turbines. Nor would they kill birds. Plastic capacitor sail generators would therefore have a few advantages over conventional approaches.

The disadvantage is that at the moment the material is fairly expensive, but there are excellent prospects for large cost reductions, and these could make it a far cheaper, as well as a greener, way of harvesting wind power.