This is the overall view of the complete food
production package. Research for this project was originally
ordered by an independent corporation considering a way to
produce food near a large metropolitan area and selling the
products via a co-op joint venture. Their focus was
on elimination of transportation costs, resolving problems
associated with food storage, freshness and quality control
with emphasis on low impact on the environment and limited
use of space. Other goals were to explore solutions for feeding
large numbers of people in hostile environments or in developing
countries in crisis. As the research
progressed on the individual components, an international
construction company became interested in the possibility
of growing food in a hostile environment such as a desert
where water and heat were the limiting factors.
A complete cost benefit analysis was done
following the initial research on feasibility of construction
of such a facility and after calculations were completed
that indicated total crop output which was designed to produce
a complete diet for 5000 people year round. An additional
study was conducted to determine the energy consumption
tradeoff in calories for all the food produced for a 20
year period including the energy expended to build the hardware.
The final research and development study
focused on energy cost accounting. This study was designed
to determine how much energy was going to be required to
produce, run and manage the facility over its life time
compared with the energy produced in the produced coming
from the facility over that life time. |
