The Seawater Agriculture Revolution

There's plenty of water — we're just running out of the kind we can actually use. This is how one company aims to tackle food insecurity and water scarcity at the same time.

Designed for hot arid countries where the main problem is lack of water


This company has a plan to tackle food security and water scarcity — simultaneously — in the most unforgiving climates. A revolutionary way to grow food in the most unforgiving climates.
Seawater Greenhouse has pioneered evaporative cooling that uses non-potable seawater to create efficient coolhouses in regions where fresh water is scarce. Paton has brought this “drought-proof" technique to countries like Australia, Somalia and Tenerife.


“The approach people have now with the way they think about water. Now it's quite different to the way people thought about it a year ago. And we've seen this same thing happen with plastic. If you're somewhere sunny and you're too hot you might put a wet top of your head. And this is exactly the same process. The seawater greenhouse is designed for hot arid countries where the main problem is lack of water. We’re on the precipice of a revolution in the way we use water and consider water. People will say water is a finite resource and we have to use it more wisely. Well, yes maybe, but it's not a finite resource. There is no shortage of water in the planet. Two thirds of the globe is covered in water. It's just a bit too salty and in the wrong place. Converting it into fresh water and evaporating it and using it for cooling in humidifier and all of those good things and extracting minerals from it is not technically very difficult. But it's not what people do,” Charlie Paton - founder, Seawater Greenhouse tells Brut.


Using tomatoes as a reference, Seawater Greenhouses says it could produce up to 750 tons of crops per hectare — reducing costs up to 75% from regular heated greenhouses based on data from Seawater Greenhouse. Paton says even more innovation involving seawater will boost chances of achieving global food security.


Brut.


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Brut.