Village in a box

I was fixing lunch for my daughter and her mom the other day and
started to wonder about agricultural output and food consumption in
Switzerland and the United States. It turns out that 3,897 sq meters
of farmland are needed to support each American or European with the
types of food that they like.

And started wondering about homesteading off-world - and then, maybe
applying it to this world.

Hydroponics/greenhouse technology can reduce this without any
trouble. In fact advanced techniques might reduce to very low
figures..

http://www.verticalfarm.com/essay.php
http://money.cnn.com/2007/09/10/technology/farming_vertical.biz2/

Now, I'm making a new kind of solar collector commercially (I'm
selling the power not the collectors - I build own and operate the
facilities and make a profit on the energy I make)

Anyway, part of the process of making low-cost solar panels is
creating large sheets of thin film plastic, precision molding them,
and bonding them together to form lenses and circuits and other
structures that process light - and eventually convert that light to
electricity.

But I've also given some thought to creating geodesic domes that have
controlled lighting properties. That is, this plastic film can be
transparent totally, partly transparent, transparent to only certain
colors, or totally reflective, or highly dispersive and so forth.

Well, a greenhouse can be built - as well at catchment basins, and
pipes, and drains and growth media and so forth.. very easily.

The plastic can be made very thin, with a large number of slits, and
then bunched and twisted to form a network of fibers like carpeting -
but also ideally suited as a growth medium - for a new type of
hydroponics.

Two thin film sheets can be bonded together with a channel aligned to
form a tube. That tube can be collapsed and then injected with air to
erect it.

Copper and aluminum foils can be deposited in patterns between two
films to create a low cost circuit board to transmit signals and
power. (this is used inthe solar panel arrays to good effect)

The *** can be modified to have a wide range of optical properties
during fabrication. Large film areas can be cast continuously and
continuously molded in rotary molds (think of rotary presses for
newspapers) - and large areas made at very low cost and very high
speeds - costing only pennies per square meter.

I have done some preliminary design work for large geodesic spheres,
of very low weight, that are staked down and then inflated to erect.
Motors and controls are plugged into the plastic substrates - once
folded into place (think of orgami flowers) - and the system is up and
running in no time.

Each geodesic 'farm dome' transmits shortwave radiation and reflects
long wave radiation. It is designed to absorb and concentrate 1
micron to 800 nm radiation to provide electrical power. The dome
recieves energy from a powersat in space - a solar pumped laser - that
provides 1 MW of electrical power continuously to a set of 3 domes.

There are seven circular areas staked out - in hexagonal fashion -
each 135 meters in diameter Three of these forming a triangle around
a central circle - are covered with a 135 m diameter and 60 m tall -
'farm dome' - Each dome not only covers and automatically provides all
the crops needed for 180 people.

In addition the perimeter of each dome has stalls for animals.

Dome 1 houses 60 cows, Dome 2 - 240 chickens - dome 3 - 36 pigs
(this based on European and US diets)

The 3 circular areas between the farm domes -each of these have 33
domes (or similar inflatable) each 15 m in diameter. There are 24
located in 8 groups of 3 - housing. There are 19 located inside this
ring of 24. There are 4 in a line, and nestled to one side, 3 between
each of them. Then a 'street' and a line of 5. Then, a mirror image
of the first 7 on the 'street' opposite.

These center domes are shops and storage areas.

The central circle - have an additional 24 domes in 8 groups of 3 -
located around a central square - and then a downsized, 80 meter -
dome that is 60 meters tall (think mini-EPCOT) - as the town hall -
with a large open space.

The entire village is self contained - and fits in a circle 405 meters
in diameter - and supports 180 people. 2 people working 40 hours per
week - operate the farms - and 12 are trained and take turns. 6
operate the food processing equipment - and 36 take turns at it - this
provides adequate backup.

Work is generally available via satellite internet - through remote
working - or telerobotics. A population of 30 humaniform-telerobots
is shipped with each village (like the P2- asimo's big brother). This
system presupposes a powersat and wireless broadband from comsat are
available. PDAs, home entertainment systems, and telerobotic
terminals are widely available. Thus, training is available - in
addition to hiring in needed services, like surgical or dental care or
other expert engineering and technical services. The robots can also
be connected to trained soldiers/police for hire - and equipped with
riot gear by the local authorities in an emergency.

Some sort of powered roadway -automated public transport system is
envisioned as well. A total of 80,000 sq m of film - totalling 1 mm
thick (across 10 plys to form complex electricaly, hydraulic, and
pneumatic structures) mass a total of 80 cubic meters and mass a total
of 100 metric tons. Another 30 tons of hardware (including the tele-
robots which assemble the whole thing and manage access and start-up)
- a delivered by air via drop shipment in 7 blocks 2.25 m on an edge.
An eighth block consists of the robots, and the hardware that attaches
to the thin film structures when they're erected.

Another two airdrops - totalling 250 tons - of food and seeds and
starter crops - so occupancy can begin immediately. A collection of
villages 3,000 km in diameter would provide housing for everyone on
the planet. 16 collections each 750 km in diameter would achieve the
same ends.

These could be placed in areas that are suffering from drought and
environmental degradation.

Ideally suited for Africa, parts of South America perhaps, Chinese and
Indian frontiers.

800 million homeless children are projected for 2020 worldwide. 4.4
million

These domes and so forth can also be fitted into existing cities and
towns and villages - and used as seems appropriate - to improve living
conditions.

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