Floating farms

Floating farms have been presented as a means of growing agricultural crops on open waters. The idea revolves around using emerging technological advances that allow various floating platforms to house any number of structures on water, including small islands, airports, piers, and other human made facilities. Beyond their use as hosts for these types of structures, these floating platforms have been increasingly adopted by the sustainability movement to promote projects that do not damage the environment and instead contribute to the welfare of humanity. These large floating structures have already found use as hosts for floating wind farms and fish farms. Floating farms are intended to utilize the same underlying technologies that have made these environmentally sustainable projects viable.

In an era of diminishing arable land, floating farms are viewed as a potentially valuable means of expanding crop production. The concept of floating farms is often included as part of a broader ocean homesteading movement. Ocean homesteading has been proposed as a method for establishing human settlements on the ocean that will help to combat growing problems with overpopulation around the world. When incorporated as part of larger ocean homesteading plans, floating farms could be used as self-sustainable local food sources.

Background

The floating farm movement is still in its relative infancy. Attempts have been made to implement some simplified forms of floating farms. Near Vancouver is a collection of floating greenhouses, while an engineering company in New York City has been experimenting with using human-made islands to grow crops. As of 2023, Asia Pacific dominated the global floating farm market, largely because of a large population and a need for high-yield crops. According to a VynZ Research report, the global floating farms market was $4.5 billion in 2023 and expected to reach $7.8 billion in 2030.

One of the most publicized concepts regarding floating farms is a Spanish company called Smart Floating Farms (SFF). Under its plan, floating farms would incorporate various cutting-edge technologies in the fields of aquaculture, hydroponics and aeroponics, and photovoltaics. Aquaculture is the controlled cultivation of various forms of aquatic life for consumption. Aquaculture may include the harvesting of fish, crabs, mollusks, and algae and other aquatic plants in either freshwater or saltwater settings. Hydroponics and aeroponics are two methods of growing plants without soil. In hydroponics, plants gain the necessary nutrients for growth from either nutrient-infused water or other sources that do not require soil; in aeroponics, plants are suspended over a pump that periodically emits a mist containing a nutrient solution that feeds the plants. Photovoltaics is a method of converting solar power into energy through the use of solar cells.

SFF's plans call for the creation of triple-decker barges. Fish farms would be located on the bottom of the barges. This bottom deck would include a slaughterhouse and packaging facility, thereby enabling all processing to be done onsite. In the middle, a series of hydroponic or aeroponic gardens would grow a variety of crops. These gardens would be sustained by solar panels on the roof that generate the energy necessary to keep the floating farms operational. The roof would be able to collect rainwater, or it could be opened on sunny days to allow natural light to reach the plants. Each farm would stretch across an area measuring 656 feet (200 meters) by 1,150 feet (350 meters), spanning a total area across all three decks of 2.2 million square feet (50.5 acres). These farms are intended to be modular, meaning they could be linked together to create larger resources depending on the size and needs of the community that each network would feed. SFF's primary objectives for their floating farms are maximizing space and creating an operation that would be almost fully self-sustainable, meaning that little human intervention would be required.

The Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority (NELHA) has a research facility that uses pipes stretching deep into the ocean to trap cold seawater from depths of up to 3,000 feet. This water is then used for the collection of fish farms and for the production of more than two tons of sea vegetables, such as ogonori, a type of edible seaweed.

Overview

Many scientists worry that the human population is facing a growing humanitarian crisis. The world population continues to increase during a period when environmental damage and issues resulting from climate change are affecting the world. Desertification, rising oceans, and declining arable land have led to drops in food production. By itself, climate change is estimated to have the potential to reduce overall crop yields by as much as one quarter by 2050. If human population growth continues at current levels, however, the amount of food produced on an annual rate would have to grow by 70 percent.

Floating farms have a number of potential advantages that would help to meet the growing demands of food production in the twenty-first century. As land that can be used for agriculture becomes increasingly rare, these floating farms could be positioned on any body of water. As more than 70 percent of the world's surface is covered by water, these farms present an opportunity to take advantage of an underutilized part of the planet. In addition, since they are self-sustaining and do not require the same resources as traditional farms, they are considered environmentally friendly. For instance, advocates of floating farms point to the fact that a sphere 55 meters wide can produce three thousand tons of fish; a cattle farm would require sixteen thousand acres of land and a billion gallons of freshwater to produce as much meat. In addition, the hydroponics used in many floating farm models do not need any form of natural precipitation and can be stacked to use less space.

The primary obstacle to the establishment of floating farms is cost. Even the most basic models may require tens to hundreds of millions of dollars to establish. They may have immediate applications, however, that could offset some of these costs. For instance, most models have the first floating farms anchored next to land to provide easy access. As a result, floating farms can be used in locations that have shortages of suitable land for agriculture, such as large urban cities or third-world countries combating desertification, rising oceans, or other environmental problems. In such areas, these floating farms may promote economic growth among small business owners or on a national basis. They could lower the cost of food by reducing the distance food needs to travel to markets and lessen a country's reliance on imported food.

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