A high-tech micro-dairy called Floating Farm in Rotterdam is helping rethink agriculture in the age of climate crisis
are built on water in the city, which is 90% below sea level. The van Wingerdens’ floating dairy farm was a new but inevitable twist. Should a weather crisis arise, a waterborne farm isn’t necessarily stuck in place. An urban farm that serves city dwellers also reduces carbon emissions associated with food transportation.
The van Wingerdens’ experimental farm floats on pontoons, rising and falling with the tides . The rubber-floored barn occupying the top level of the structure is where the cows are robotically milked, mucked and fed . The middle level is where the milk is processed into butter, yogurt and other dairy products. It is on this level where rain and desalinated seawater are purified for the cows’ consumption.
The van Wingerdens’ model is ripe for reproduction – which is exactly what the Floating Farm’s team of 14 are working on now. Plans are in the works for a floating vegetable farm to move into the space next to the current Floating Farm. Permit applications are also out for similar structures in Dubai, Singapore and the Dutch cities of Haarlem and Arnhem.
The new ventures will apply lessons learned from the original Rotterdam project. “You need to build a house in order to know how to build a house,” Peter says. Some of his key takeaways have been practical, such as those to do with mechanics on how farm materials flow through a waterborne structure. He’s also learned a great deal about dealing with bureaucracy and entrenched thinking.
The biggest obstacles he sees ahead are not financial or physical, but rather political and administrative. “As a world, we are in such a need to find solutions for the upcoming 30 years,” Peter says. “One of the biggest challenges we come across worldwide is regulations. Cities need to have disruptive thinking. Cities need to have disruptive departments. Cities need to have areas where you can say: OK, this is the experimental zone.
United Kingdom Latest News, United Kingdom Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Ghana’s school on stilts: the floating village where teachers are too scared to goPicturesque Nzulezo attracts a steady stream of tourists to Lake Tadane. But the waters that draws visitors are the very reason school staff are reluctant to stay
Read more »
Victorian cattle ranch that conjures ‘Lord of the Rings’ vibes is up for sale - realestate.com.auThe main house, named House of the Elves, has majestic mountain views, and is only up for sale because the owner ‘needs room for more cows’
Read more »
Pacific Islands urge Japan to delay release of Fukushima waste over contamination fearsThe Japanese government said last week that contaminated water from the destroyed nuclear power plant could be released into the sea 'around this spring or summer'.
Read more »
Jonathan Raban, travel writer and novelist, dies aged 80The British author, who lived in the US, blended memoir and travelogue in books that were often inspired by the sea
Read more »