Self-Sovereign Energy from Solar, Wind, Digesters, and Geothermal
Solar Energy
Farm 1 maintained business operations in the midst of a recent class 1 tropical storm. The facility operated flawlessly at 100% capacity.
With Global climate change imposing an impact on outdoor farms, conventional agriculture is now turning to alternatives to meet the demand from the food market.
HyperLocal combines elements of hydroponics, aquaculture, and renewable energy in a fully contained, controlled, and hurricane-protected environment inside an existing vacant warehouse building. CEA provides a unique combination of technologies and agriculture for the production of a variety of food products, as well as fish, in a CEA facility. Extensive scientific research on closed-loop aquaponic ecosystems has paved the way for repeatable, scalable food production, which represents an innovative advance in the way food
supplies will be grown in the future.
A design that uses clean renewable solar energy for sustainable primary power/energy requirements that will produce power at an estimated $0.08 per kWh, substantially below the current cost of government-supplied electric power which averages $0.25 per kWh. (Based on 03/19/2020 US Energy Information Administration data)
Wind
Wind compounds self-sovereign power.
With 60 consecutive weeks of harvesting for Farm 1, wind power is anticipated to provide a reliable secondary source of energy.
The facility location is connected to grid power that has frequent surges and brownouts. The use of additional energy is not backed up and often acts as a primary means of power.
These alternative power sources provide the backbone for consistent harvest schedules. To date, Farm 1 has provided the most consistent and high-quality food in the history of the location.
The facility in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico has ample space available to install a roof-mounted Wind Powered Microgrid renewable energy solution to offset 100% of the electricity consumed on-site. An initial analysis was done based on various
commercial and technical assumptions for wind which would need to be verified during
the feasibility study stage. The electrical infrastructure will be grid-connected and
comprised of the latest local and state engineering, procurement, and construction
standards, with which all systems will be compatible.
Anaerobic Biomethanation Digesters
We are working with the National Renewal Energy Lab (NREL) who is helping us scope out the design which uses renewable natural gas (RNG) from a methane digester as the fuel source for any number of power-generating solutions.
This has the potential to be a carbon-neutral ‘circular economy’ solution.
RNG, when effectively purified from its methane digester source, is interchangeable with natural gas as a generator or power turbine fuel.
Deep Well Geothermal
We are exploring zero-emissions heat and power production capabilities of next-generation geothermal technology.
According to NREL, Farm 1 is positioned to explore the use of geothermal energy.
Also, recent early-stage disussions are in play with Icelandic fisheries interested in converting to the HyperLocal model to enable a bridge from agriculture to IT work and geothermal is already a large part of the low-cost energy solution in Iceland.
