As conventional germ of clean water dry up , we ’re front ever farther , wide of the mark , and deeper . In a long feature on unusual sources of H2O , Nature lead ussomewhere especially unexpected — into the midsection of a desert . TheSahara Forest Projectwants to prove we can green the desert , turning desolate landed estate into haven of cuke and melons . And the water supply ? It ’ll come from the sea .
The unusual idea is made possible by glasshouse , but not greenhouses as you know them . Instead of trapping heat , the Sahara Forest Project ’s greenhouses are nerveless and moist . Here ’s howScience describedthe pilot quickness in the Qatar last year :
At one end , saltiness water is trickled over a gridlike drapery so that the prevail wind blows the resulting cool , moist line over the plant inside . This cool effect leave the Qatar facility to grow three crop per twelvemonth , even in the blacken summer . At the other final stage of the greenhouse is a connection of pipes with stale seawater function through them . Some of the moisture in the breeze condenses on the pipe and is accumulate , allow a source of unfermented water .
Surprisingly , moist line leaking out from the nursery encouraged plants around the building , too . While cucumbers and tomato grew inside the glasshouse , Eruca sativa and barleycorn could grow right outside .
The facility also takes vantage of one natural resource in abundance in the desert : sun . Solar panels generate electricity for the pump system , and excess electrical energy can go toward desalination of additional brine .
Last year , the Sahara Forest Projectharvested the first cropsfrom its pilot location in the Qatari desert . Their yield was comparable to a traditional nursery of the same size , and now they ’re aiming to build a larger test facility in Jordan . As all newfangled technical school last , this is currently an incredibly expensive direction to produce some salad . That could interchange , though , particularly in an increasingly athirst world .
Thepiece over at Naturehas several other slightly softheaded but somehow plausible water system idea , likeharvesting fogand reviving 2,000 - yr - old waterworks . Just another monitor that getting clean water system is a heap more complicated than turning on your faucet . [ Nature , scientific discipline ]
https://gizmodo.com/could-fog-catchers-help-solve-americas-drought-problem-1496382201
DesertWater
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