Airponix Ltd
LOCATION: United Kingdom
SUMMARY: Our mission is to further develop our technology to help eliminate world hunger. The optimum Airponix soilless agricultural system uses nutrient containing water fogs (not mists) to grow food crops in low-cost climate-change resilient protective enclosures, minimising environmental impact with radically improved yields (20 times) and water savings (85%).
PROBLEM SPACE: “Humanity’s most pressing problem is current and anticipated food shortages. Famine, largest humanitarian crisis in history of UN, 20 million people face starvation and famineäó (Oxfam NewsFamine headlines of 3/12/2017). Recent UN statement mentioned 50 million people could be forced to leave their homes by 2020 because their land has turned to desert; epicentre being sub-Saharan Africa and majority of those displaced will first head North to the already stressed Middle East with objective of reaching Europe. The consequences could be unthinkable by 2020!
The greatest challenges to global agriculture are going to be achieving considerable increases in staple food crop productivity in environmentally benign ways, and do so in the face of increasingly frequent and destructive climate change effects and side-effects. The way climate is likely to develop is well explained in a lecture given at this year’s World Economic Forum, Beyond the Anthropocene by Johan Rockstrom explaining that currently will be over tipping point by 2020.
View: http://www.stockholmresilience.org/research/research-news/2017-02-16-wef-2017-beyond-the-anthropocene.html
See slide 3 of attached presentation that shows that global market opportunity of improving agricultural productivity is +Œ£250 billion. It also lists the 10 main problems of current agriculture with the solutions to each when using the comprehensive Airponix system.”
SOLUTION: “Attachment 1 slide 3 lists 10 main problems of current agriculture methods with each addressed by the Airponix system. The following system will be delivered to address the above critical needs by:
a) protecting the plants from threats when grown in open air conditions by creating long low-cost enclosed growth chambers (plastic films supported on tensioned ropes)
b) controlling inside conditions to give optimal plant growth
c) affordable. Fog generator that provides low cost (capital and operating) and reliable fog providing water, nutrients and 15 other services to the plants; a distinguishing feature compared to current aeroponic systems (current systems are uneconomic)
d) seven growth enhancement technologies to radically increase yields (expected around 20 fold increase).
e) system resilient to climate change effects and side-effects (e.g, high winds, lightning strikes, large hailstones, flooding etc.)
f) space-efficient while terrain independent e.g. rocky/hilly/contaminated/roof top, etc
g) water conservation (85% saving compared to soil-based agriculture)
h) fault-free performance for long periods with low/no maintenance or farming experience required
i) environmentally benign (E.G.min/negative CO2 footprint)
j) self seeding and harvesting systems requiring minimal human intervention and near or fully automatic and/or remote control operation.”
CONTACT: [email protected]