How to prevent wild fires.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by freebeard

That's like living on wheat and beef on an island. The tidal power from the oscillating water column OTOH....

Practically none of the assumed benefits of local food pass a sniff test.

There's this idyllic image of a farmer hand harvesting an organically grown crop into a pickup truck and driving 40 miles to a local market. "It's sustainable".

The food is super expensive because it was hand picked, the crop yield is low because it was "organic", and more fuel is spent moving a paltry amount of food in a 14 MPG pickup truck, than a machine harvesting a high yield crop of GMO produce, loading enormous quantities onto a 7 MPG tractor/trailer, and sending it 1,000 miles away.

It's entirely backwards as far as resiliency. The local market can exist because it's backstopped by a broad and mature distribution market. A local crop failure doesn't lead to starvation because the broader distribution market exists, and is practically unaffected by any local failures.

The same narrow view is what confuses people into thinking renewable electricity is cheaper than traditional generation. It's cheaper only because traditional generation exists. Take the traditional generation out, and it's utter catastrophe as local conditions wreck havoc.

Anyhow, I know you are envisioning a self-contained, self-reliant island unto yourself that theoretically works for a few individuals, but I took the opportunity to get on my soapbox to explain why it's not a solution for the masses.

[freebeard]

"Move to where the food is" -- Sam Kinison

Else, high-rise urban farms with hydroponics and purple lights.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by freebeard

"Move to where the food is" -- Sam Kinison

Else, high-rise urban farms with hydroponics and purple lights.

I think that's a fairly probable future, perhaps minus the artificial lighting. Free energy is free energy. At the equator, vertical farming doesn't make much sense because the sun is directly above and already maximizing exposure to plants on a single plane. Move away from the equator, and sunlight approaches at an angle, lending opportunities for vertical farming. The structure would cast a shadow though, leaving darkness for anything behind it.

More immediately, I see autonomous farming machines, LASER (yes, it's a proper acronym) equipped pesticide machines that eliminate the need for chemical pesticides, and precise metering of soil amendments and fertilizers to the individual plant.

Harvesting will be continuous, selecting mature produce each day, eliminating waste caused by under ripe/over ripe harvesting.

Conservatively I see a 25% increase in yield.

[freebeard]

I think that's a fairly probable future, perhaps minus the artificial lighting

Perhaps capture the light full-spectrum (includes IR) and rebroadcast it in a photosynthetically beneficial spectrum. ....Into a CO2 rich atmosphere.

The structure would cast a shadow though, leaving darkness shade for anything behind it.