Transcript
00:00 – 00:03
Film starts
00:03 – 00: 05
Opening title:
Less field, more yield
00:12 – 00:18
The aspiration of this project is to help people where ever they live and whatever their situation is in the world.
00:19 – 00:25
This type of technology will allow us to use a vertical interface to grow effectively market garden type crops.
00:26 – 00:35
In our Cities, on our roofs, around those in Peri-urban zones. But do it very efficiently in terms of water, in terms of energy, in terms of carbon dioxide.
00:40 – 00:45
The Verti-crop allows me to really get to the crux of why we have threatened plants and animals around the world.
00:43 – 00:45
Title:
Kevin Frediani
Curator of plants and gardens
00:45 – 00:53
Which is too many people, too small a planet and the unfettered use of natural resources to feed our consumption. Mainly through agriculture.
00:59 – 01:06
Behind me is the Verti-crop producing fresh salad crops for use in the Zoo, which is computer controlled by a building management system.
01:07 – 01:14
That controls the ambient temperatures, the humidity. Also includes the ventilation for the space here.
01:15 – 01:17
Under floor we’ve got heating, which is computer controlled.
01:18 – 00:25
And in addition we’ve got irrigation, which will provide fresh water, nutrients and crucial for the roots own oxygen.
01:26 – 01:29
And all of this represents what we call, controlled environmental agriculture.
01:33 – 01:37
The prototype installed here at the zoo is a proof of concept.
01:35 – 01:37
Title:
Joanne Bailey
Alterrus Systems
01:38 – 01:43
So, we had the idea of the vertical crop production system known as Verti-crop.
01:44 - 01:52
The Verti-crop consists of stacked trays, suspended on a conveyor, 8 high, which maximizes the use of available space.
01:53 – 02:00
So not just on the horizontal layer but also the vertical layer. It could be above ground, below ground or both.
02:00 – 02:06
I mean effectively it’s increasing the landmass by 20-40 times, depending on the crop that you are growing.
02:06 - 02:14
Agriculture uses around 70% of the worlds fresh water, which is increasingly in short supply.
02:14 – 02:19
Hydroponics uses 10% of the water, compared to conventional agriculture.
02:19 – 02:23
We can also recapture and re-coup the nutrients and use them again.
02:23 – 02:26
We haven’t used herbicides or pesticides in this space.
02:26 – 02:34
The vertical hydroponic technology. We call it high-density vertical growing. Using the most advanced hydroponic technologies.
02:35 – 02:38
Has benefits that it can be used anywhere.
02:38 – 02:44
In Vancouver, on top of the rooftops, they’re developing an externalised version of this, which is the next iteration.
02:45 – 02:55
Up at the other end of the Zoo, we are also developing another iteration of that, which is a warehouse based system, where the walls are fully insulated 100mm thick.
02:55 – 03:00
This is about the nitty gritty of how do we do it, and it’s probably going to be underneath buildings or more likely in warehouses.
03:00 – 03:06
I don’t see a different way of doing things, this is it, this generation will make or break what comes after us.
03:07 – 03:09
Closing credits