The sustainable solution to feed the world and provide fresh water by 2050
Floating marine farms will help address looming global freshwater and food shortages in the coming decades, when the world’s population is expected to reach 10 billion by 2050.
“The system works like a garden bed,” says Dr Owen.
“In this case, however, the pure water is supplied by a series of solar evaporators, which take in seawater, trap the salts in the evaporator body and, under the influence of the sun’s rays, release pure water vapour into the air, which is then condensed onto water strips and carried into the upper chamber for plant growth.”
In the field tests, the researchers grew three common vegetable crops – broccoli, lettuce and pak choi (Chinese leafy kale) – on seawater surfaces without maintenance or supplemental irrigation with clean water.
