An interesting idea - from Farmer's Weekly:
£120m state-of-the-art-tomato farm opens in Australia
A high-tech sustainable tomato farm with its own desalination plant and 23,000 mirrors to harness the sun’s energy, has opened in South Australia.
The AUS$200m (£120m) investment by Sundrop Farms is reported by Australian news service The Lead to be the first of its kind in the world. It will produce 15,000t of tomatoes a year for the Australian domestic market.
The farm, near Port Augusta – a seaport on the Spencer Gulf – has 20ha of climate-controlled greenhouses made using 20,000 glass panels.
The solar power system concentrates the sun’s energy using a 127m-high tower weighing 400t and more the 23,000 mirrors to reflect the sun’s rays.
This produces steam that drives onsite processes and heat to run the desalination unit, which churns out 1m litres of fresh water a day.
Eight trucks a day are currently leaving the farm to freight tomatoes to supermarkets across the country and Sundrop Farms has a 10-year contract with Australian retailer Coles.
Very clever idea - there is no fresh water in the desert to use the heat of the sun to desalinate the ocean water. Perfect climate for 'maters - bright and hot.
Here is the companies website: Sundrop Farms They just completed a farm in Portugal and are breaking ground for one in Tennesee. Here is a link to their technologies - very nicely integrated.
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