Project demeter Using the idle space in Earth's orbit around the Sun to meet the agricultural demands of the next generation.
- Year2016
- LocationSpace
This project is a proposal for the conception of four Agricultural Modules that orbit the Sun in the same orbital path as Earth. Combined, the Modules match the current land area destined to agricultural purposes with the goal of alleviating the strain our planet faces concerning the challenge to feed an increasing population without compromising the integrity of our environment.
In order to achieve this goal, the Modules host the crops that are yielded for consumption on Earth (with a fraction of them being consumed in-situ for the inhabitants of the Module's colony) while rotating around the Sun along the very heart of our habitable zone with all the benefits this location carries with it. Each Module stores the goods that are produced until they come into contact with Earth once every two years (with four modules, this means that Earth receives the harvest from a different module once every six months).
This proposal is relevant because one of the most pressing challenges humanity faces is that of feeding a population that will grow by 33% by 2050. With agriculture being one of the activities that take up the most land area (almost 40% currently, most of it using unsustainable practices), we are on the brink of facing a major food crisis that will affect our ecosystems in immeasurable ways in order to take up more ground for meeting the new demands. Travel times and cost make destinations such as Mars inefficient and, as an unexploited resource, it is necessary to think about the next frontier as being right at our doorstep: the orbital path of Earth around the Sun; the space we occupied yesterday and will occupy tomorrow.