Comment by Aerbil313
3 years ago
Thank you very much! I'll start building a Biosphere 2-like [1] system for climate and weather independent food production later this year inshaAllah. So I'm interested in such projects. I also want to open-source mine because I can't see how I can accomplish it all by myself.
Input: sunlight and (optionally, if not contaminated by nuclear fallout) air. Output: meat, dairy and crops.
> I have an older iteration of the system working in an outdoor greenhouse without artificial lighting.
I think this should be possible with such a system, with full composting (including every biological waste, even human excrement), air-to-water devices, underground temperature and solar utilizing temperature control system and many more things, all in one massive greenhouse. I don't think hydroponics is the answer as it is highly fragile (system exists in sensitive equilibrum) or require chemicals (requiring global supply chain) or depend on complicated tech (many failure vectors).
You’re absolutely right — hydroponics is a dead end if you’re mostly or entirely off grid with no supply chain.
I’m very interested in soil-based gardening and cyclical systems too, but I don’t have enough space to really experiment. However, if I did have the space, I’d love to explore an aquaponic system in a large enclosed area. Perhaps a large geodesic dome partly dug into the earth to help stabilize temperature. The ability to generate a nutrient solution from a biological system is absolutely inedible to me.
Thanks for the link to Biosphere 2, this is really interesting.
Thanks for the confirmation on hydroponics. On human manure, Humanure Handbook: https://humanurehandbook.com/