Much of the technology you exhibit is widely available and it's not expensive. Arduinos, Raspberries...thing is, not many people have the knowledge to put everything together and make it work. good thing is you have sharpened the pencil and adjusted the parameters quite well. It would be a great solution for a country like mine where the food mafias make us pay for the products much more than what we should.
As a person in love with sustainable farming, this is mostly BS. It is neat in theory, uses all the buzz words, and looks cool, but the actual vegetable production from the top of a 20' shipping container( 8ft wide) is negligible compared to the cost of all of that. if you are growing salad greens (the most profitable food/time/squareft crop there is) you would barely get a salad or two per day with that size of growing area. A 50 foot bed of lettuce, 30 inches wide with 6 inch on center planting produces about 50lbs of salad mix every 5 weeks, or basically 10lbs a week... sells for $5/lb.. so $50/week. I'd bet that pod can produce maybe $50-75/week of actual production and probably costs $40,000 or more. It is a nice gimmick for a restaurant to put one in front, but they will still be buying 99% of their salad greens and vegetables from a traditional market gardener. Math is math, the yield per square foot, even vertical, is very easy to calculate for anyone with experience market gardening. And the part about the ' buyout ' offer is BS also. There are no patents involved and you can look at that thing and be able to reproduce it for $20-30k, why would someone pay millions for it.. It is basic aquaponics with a tiny growing area, it is economically unviable, which is why ' they' are the only person doing it. it is easy easy math to look at the growing area, calculated yield and determine the break even point and that thing is way over a decade.
And yet he'll garner raves and people will say he's changing the world. Nobody does any real critical thinking but instead just want to feel better about themselves so just by praising him, they feel they're doing their part in helping the environment...
I think you're missing the point. I don't fully like this particular design, but the point of it is having "ready made systems" that can yield enough production for personal use, since most people wouldn't have the space or the drive to do it themselves. Farms CAN successfully be vertical. There are really cool ones in Singapore (like Sky Greens) and they yield more than enough for commercial production. Those designs are smart. This one is, in my opinion and in this guy's own words, intended for the lazy farmer that has some spare parking space, pretty much.
I’ve had the identical idea several years ago except that the bottom “guts” of the system were under ground and the greenhouse was at ground level. You’d have to dig a hole to fit it but it would allow for better temperature control of the water reservoir…and you wouldn’t have to climb a ladder to get to the greenhouse. BUT..I’m so stoked to see that someone else had the same vision/idea and was able to manifest it in this way! I think that one of the next steps should be to create a DIY kit to sell to homeowners that they could assemble themselves in their yard.
That´s what I was thinking. Home owners and comunity groups over seas in Europe. I´m in Germany and so many people would love to get their hands on something like this. we have loads of shipping containers here so just the guts and good instructions.
@@In_fluss I see both above-ground and submerged format use, both of which can be insulated, and not just for food production. Containers for on site water storage can provide thermal storage. Homework for Mars and the Moon(s).
The idea of putting it in ground for temp control is smart but some ppl wouldn’t be able to do that like in FLORIDA because as soon as you start digging your gonna come in contact with water
Yep, build a new house and have a concrete basement area built with greenhouse on top. Can be done in water soaked areas as well with membrane during construction.
Like the guy that invented a 200 mpg carburetor, he could have sold out. I could imagine one of these pods in between a couple of apartment buildings, providing fresh fish and vegetables to families in each building. *WHAT A BOON FOR INNER CITY FOOD DESERTS*
Agreed, really inspiring! And for what it's worth the 200mpg carburetor is an urban legend, for better or worse 🙂. thenewswheel.com/urban-legends-about-cars-the-200-mpg-carburetor/
"They were trying to buy us to shut us down" Kinda reminds me of the time American automobile industries bought out all the streetcars in Oakland and got rid of them.
Yes, you touch on a whole situation absolutely pregnant with information. Union Oil, and central planning that concentrated homes at a distance from work centers, necessitating highways and CARS. I am from Michigan, lived in Camarillo CA, love cars and bikes, but hated the idea of wasting so much time in a car, idling on the 101 with the AC on. Going to a bike was a vast improvement for time, energy, and enjoyment. But I must acknowledge any high kinetic transportation consumes precious energy and risks injury and death. Decentralizing systems (political control, energy, food production, etc.) builds in redundancy, robustness, liberty while franchising and empowering individuals. Solar on ones house, having tbe ability to raise food to use and/or sell (buy and sell energy too) by leveraging a marketplace on the internet, facilitated by autonomous drones, cars, and even trucks is a vibrant future I can imagine.
GM that stopped making electric cars because they were successful in getting legislators to increase allowable levels of air pollution….and then destroyed all of these cars that they could get their hands on (facing bankruptcy now for that one)
@@willm5814 Serves them right. I hope they don't get bailed out again. When you have a better product but you destroy it because you can make more profit from the worse one you shouldn't be in business. Eventually someone will copy or even improve your better product and you are screwed.
its an interesting system, and I hope he can achieve his goal, but saying that he developed the concept is false. It has been done countless times before and aquaponics dates back to the Aztecs.
It always worries me when i see a video about a new technology and there are no problems or caveats shown. I feel the more informative videos at least have a section showing the challenges of applying the technology. Like for example this technology will not feed the world, most of our calories come from grains which these setups cannot produce in enough quantities. They can help with food diversity, but a simple greenhouse in the outskirts of a city would have much higher impact than these tech and energy heavy setups.
Yep just some good old fashioned running away with the investors’ money. If you can entice some Silicon Valley investors you’ll be laughing all the way to the bank. Which is why they’re yakking away about “high tech” this and that. Edit: Ok so I’m halfway through the video and they’ve mentioned automation, ease of use and they’ve proposed that their product is worth millions of dollars. Edit 2: Well at least he knows that if you can get public funding for your miracle product then you’re really gonna make some money. Let’s wait and see if they manage to con someone I suppose.
We did have many issues. We had towers the leaked list nutrients rich water, until we got the angle just right. We had drippers that clogged until we perfected the cleaning cycles. We had to much sensitive gear in the pod, until we build the machine room design. And probably a hundred more items. We just kept working through them until we got them right with the goal of creating the most simplified and stable system we could. We talked about some of it while they were filming but I just think they couldn't fit it all in in the 7 minutes.
Universities have done this for almost a decade now, including the aquaponic inside containers. Right here on youtube. Many big universities like purdue also
Robotics 3d printing, A.i, and machine learning were not at the level they are today but I get where you were trying to go. Thats no different than the fact we had electric car capabilities 100 years ago but most people don't know there were electric buggies on the road until the gas vehicles won the nepotism fight of that day and postponed the inevitable. In any event I think they are doing a great job with their technology and I'm glad they didn't accept that offer. what that company tried to do is the same thing that happens all the time with new innovation- big company or player of the day stands on mountaintop of complacency, sees competition with something they perceive as a threat, then they either squeeze them out through their big buddies in government or they try to make them an offer they hopefully can't refuse.
Definitely! And for what it's worth, FarmPods and related technologies are already available! They've begun hitting the market in the last few years; it'll be exciting to see if they take off as the tech continues to mature, improve and come down in cost. There's so much innovation happening, it'll be really exciting to see how things change in the coming years!
@@dertythegrower and it hasn’t been used for commercial production because aquaponics are extremely unsustainable. God gave us soil, and we’re meant to use it holistically. Look at this system and you see what? Plastic, food imports that come from grain grown on fields, metal, electricity, more plastic. It’s not smart. If you really care quit eating unsustainable food products (40% of US land is used for animal ag) and do some research on truly natural and holistic agriculture systems. That being said, large greenhouses, although still using plastic and steel, use a much lower percentage than something like this because area increases at a faster rate than perimeter and they also require less temperature control because volume does too.
@@watchman727 My personal problem is how it is framed. They act as if it were a completely new ground breaking idea. While we have one of these things sitting around in our community garden. It's exhausting to keep hearing about their invotive startup concepts. Then you look it up and ah yes it's a technology that was developed by students or activists or hobbyists 10 years ago.
There are a ton of freight farms already. I think all of this ‘’ we started this’’ is wildly ignorant. Their mission is amazing and what they’re doing is amazing, but they didn’t invent the wheel.
Doesn't matter. Some company wanted them buy them out, and destroy these dreams. Apparently the idea to buy out DIY food pods, must've worked back in the day. Some hippie took them money, and didn't try this idea on a bigger scale. Or maybe they always got bought out, and that was that. This time, these guys finally said no to the big money. And this time they have a video on youtube!
Yeah the trick is to make it like the building company Boxabl - where easy installation and something that would be low maintenance once operational and of course affordable
When you watch enough of these Freethink videos you start to realize that for just about every problem we have in the world - especially the basic needs like food, water, energy, shelter, clothing and transport - there are viable solutions. The problem that keeps coming up, if people open their eyes, is capitalism. This video is a prime example. This amazing technology and innovation that can localize food production all over the world was threatened to be bought out, that technology hidden and buried, if it wasn't for the decision to keep it going in the right direction. How many other great inventions and innovations have been created but then essentially bought out by capitalists? And you can't even blame the capitalists, they are just playing the game that capitalism demands of them within the system. If we don't change the system that incentivizes these negative behaviours then we'll never get to beautiful, sustainable future that is possible.
@@coolioso808 Naive comment. Yes, competitive forces can hinder a new innovation of coming to fruition. Yes capitalism is the reason any of these technologies exist or have the chance to exist in the first place. Go ahead and design a better incentive system, I'm waiting.
@@coolioso808 it’s not capitalism that’s the fundamental issue. Its human greed for money and power which will shine through in any style of government. The thing about capitalism versus a totalitarian style government is that businesses like this still have a chance to succeed although the odds are against them. In a socialist/communist system the government would already own the means of food production and this business would never be anything more than a dream.
@@Humanaut. Capitalism is unsustainable as a socio-economic system. How do you not know that by now? It doesn't matter how romantic capitalism may have been in the past, it has no sustainability as a system going forward. That's not ME saying that, it's Mother Nature. She won't allow it, or she'll show us what dystopia looks like for the vast majority of people. Every life support system is in decline. Check the data: Biodiversity loss, rainforest deforestation, ocean acidification, more extreme weather, droughts, floods, etc. That's capitalism's lovely incentives. How could you not think of a better system? If you can't, here's one: resource based economy. This goes beyond any "-ism" people love to throw out there. It isn't socialism or communism because those systems still use money and politicians. I'm talking 21st Century economy where we aren't acting like children playing a board game. We use the scientific process and a collective inventory of Earth's resources to distribute them properly to meet people's basic needs, at minimum. No money, politics and bloody wars needed. See how that would be better? If you don't think so, pose a reasonable question or comment why that isn't technically possible and better than the system we have now.
@@majorkee3001 Unfortunately, capitalism doesn't exist in a vacuum. It's a system and systems create problems if they are not designed well. The propaganda around capitalism is strong. Most of us have no idea how much it affects our world view of what is possible vs. what is possible under the made-up restrictions of capitalism. Human greed and money did not exist for over 90% of human history. We wouldn't be here today if our human nature was to be greedy like how capitalism incentivizes ruthless competitiveness and insane levels of inequality and waste! The incentives of capitalism are unsustainable on a planet with finite resources. And while you are at it, throw out all the old money-based systems as well. Don't need socialism or communism, they used money and thus still have the negative incentives for misuse and corruption. But allow your mind to think past the fake and into the real. The real is what resources we really have on Earth and what we can really do with them to organize an efficient system, guided by the scientific process. The only centralization would be the inventory of Earth's resources, but then everything else would be regional or community-controlled, democratically without the need for bloody politicians. Want to talk about real freedom? How about no threat of money scams because there is money needed for basic needs to be met. People freed from their labor-for-income slavery - finally, real freedom.
I hope they seriously think about expanding. They can do the design and iterations. They don't have to build the things themselves. There are plenty of clients who would love something like this in their backyard (for fun or also for billionaires' apocalypse escape plan), and they will pay to hire engineers/contractors to do all the building. Then they'll provide data point back for more iterative design improvements.
That's an interesting idea! It'll be neat to see whether hardware or software becomes the best route to produce this. There's a lot of companies working on container farms, so hopefully they take a variety of approaches and we can see which win out over time.
With all the interests and orders coming in, we are now looking at having FarmPod built in multiple locations to make them available faster and more affordable. We were reluctant in the past as we want to endure the quality and the stability of the product.
It's a really interesting question--when do you open source things, and when do you create a startup to monetize them? There are a number of pros and cons--here's a few: Pros: You could potentially develop the technology faster, and get it out to more people more quickly. Cons: You need a significant amount of money to develop shipping container farms - so you might not be able to do it without startup funding, and open sourcing the technology could make it less valuable since anyone could use it. Additionally, not many people in the open source community will have access to a shipping container farm to work on, so will a community capable of making valuable contributions develop around it and make it worth maintaining the project as open source?
@@freethink as a computer engineer who is actively doing hydrophobic systems. The control systems 100% do not have to be tied to the container. You do not have to have the exact same setup to have a stable contribution path. Nor would you want to. I guess. Is the goal to create more hydroponic systems in more environments to feed more people? Open source it. There are clean monetization paths for startups in this space. See group gets, see literally hundreds of products from hack a day. It is 100% possible. The development path is just different. You couldn’t have a giant garage taking on debt like they are right now. If the goal is to only sell prepackaged containers and that’s it. Then ye, I guess keep it closed. But I’ll tell you what. I’d never put that in my backyard. Most business would also like some flexibility. my shed? Sure. Roof. Sure. Trailer. Sure. Most these systems require very little alterations from the control systems point of view. Open source is coming to this space if this container group wants it or not.
@@freethink shipping container, $2500 USD, poly greenhouse $1000 (generous), Raspberry Pi, assorted relays, temp sensors - $100, super fancy water monitoring kit $1000. Solar panels can be bought second hand for under 25 cents a watt. Even new panels are that cheap. Batteries are big investment. I know because my project is open source and I do use a Pi, solar, batteries, and assorted sensors. Just no shipping container or fancy water monitoring yet.
Still over complicated. Think of it in terms of marijuana. Outdoor will yield higher quantities indoor will just produce higher quality. If we are trying to feed a planet there is no reason for down sizing production. Sure it’s nice idea, but I don’t think setting up a 30k shipping container grow op to produce 50¢ tomatoes year round will ever be worth it. It’s like the solar panal start up cost scenarios were it’ll take years to for it to pay it’s self off.
Yeah but if you apply it to outdoors with hydroponics or aquaponics you can grow vertically without soil so you can grow more in the same space as you would with soil and use less water and take up far less space or you could even scale up the hydroponic/aquaponics indoors it's already happening and they produce almost 500 times more in a square metre then soil
We are so glad to see that more and more people are finally setting up automated, and integrated greenhouses (in so many countries). The concepts and countless different prototypes have been around for decades. Thousands of videos can be seen here. I can`t believe a newcomer states this to be his idea. Outrageous and unthankful towards all the inventors, developers and firms who have fought for this and made it possible. Not a single aspect of the farm pot is new. Please let us give respect to the people who have earned it. Now I wish Farmpod all the best. We need you and many more firms like you...
I appreciate your point, but I think their idea is the part that makes it a package solution that comes setup and nearly maintains itself. If you're familiar with the various tech and concepts involved here, you know it takes many hours of research, fabrication, setup, and fine tuning.
@@LogicBob Yah but still it is just his version of a packaged solution. Systems like this have been sold for quite some time now. Still his idea but just isn't as astounding as he tries to make it sound lol He is a salesman after all.
Just wanted to chime in. We have totally respect for all the agriculture tech that has come before us. We wouldn't be here without people like Don Bailey at UVI, Nate from Bright Agrotech, Tom Watson (inventor of the shower greenhouse), all the engineers on our team at Sandia Labs. They all worked with us to make this possible. They just didn't have time to go into it all in the video I think. And yes much of the component tech existed in different forms, Our goal was always to put it together into an affordable deliverable package so that everyone can benefit from them.
Lighten up! Do you know how many people were working on the electric light, the automobile, and airplane at the same time ? If the guy’s brain makes a connection he’s never seen before, the fact that someone, somewhere may have also had that idea before him doesn’t take away from his inspiration. In fact, it doesn’t matter who was first or before. If you want to talk about who gets the credit, it matters who gets to the patent office first.
Awesome stuff! I'm doing the same in Uganda with a low cost version of a very similar system. Urban food production reduces supply chains as it allows food to go from farm to table. It gets people in touch with their food and is just super tasty!
Cute idea, but the reality of this helping in any meaningful way to feed the world is ludicrous. People need at least 2,000 calories/day and greens, even with fish, can't provide this. When someone figures out a way to grow root crops, like potatoes, or grains in a pod then that will be the breakthrough we need. All this video is is an advertisement for their product.
There´s one container underneath missing. The container for insekts ( insekt breeding ) to feed the fish. And if you want to make it perfekt, ad another container for mushrooms too ;)
Not to minimize this effort... But, this looks very similar to Kimbal Musk's (Elon's brother) is doing with BigGreen. Pod, automation, hyper-local, but not a copy. I think I can see there are important differences between the systems. But on the surface they look very similar because they are shooting for the same form-factor. For example, Tesla isn't a copy of a Ford just because it has four wheels, doors, and a windshield.
@@holleeyUm, Holly. I didn't mention aquaponics, or copying either. (Actually I did mention "copy", as in "not a copy"). But perhaps I've read and responded to your comment a little more thoughtfully than you. I will add that I brought up the fact that it looks (to me) they are using the same (or similar) form-function, and I wonder what a compare & contrast between tbe two would show? Having those two data-points would be helpful advancing the products. I used to facilitate Ford and GE Appliance to run benchmarks on each otber's design and manufacturing processes. This is a cooperation Henry Ford and Edison set up generations ago for two similar companies to improve each other without jeopardizing their customer base.
Sell to the masses by sizing for the number of people it can support and for the different climates they will be in. Then concentrate on making it affordable by selling plans to the DIY community selling only the critical components that would be needed. Keep refining to keep the cost as low as possible to the end user. That's how you benefit society.
The number of people one of these can support is less than one. It is an excellent idea don't get me wrong but you can't feed yourself on one shipping container worth of space, would probably need 5-10.
I'm currently building one. Been dreaming of an aquaponic green house since I was in middle school. Solar, wind, geo-thermically powered and all. This is truly the future of agriculture
How do you feed the fish? What kind of fish feed do you use? Depending on your answer here, this can be a complete waste of time, or a wonderful idea. I remain to be convinced of the second one...
Fish are omnivores in most cases and can handle a very wide verity of food from DIY home made to bulk processed pellets used in raising other fish on farms.
You could put duckweed in the tanks. Don't know how wise that is as I don't know what kind of nutrients it provides, but there are surely a variety of aquatic plants that could live in the same tank.
To the *incredible person* seeing this, I wish you all the best in life❤ don't over blame yourself, accept things and go forward. Don't let others define what “success” is for you. Get up, learn the skills needed and get after it, all the keys to a happy life is in your hands. Keep pushing.
One of the many challenges facing the Venus Project is in 'the how' of successfully transitioning from our current system, to a RBE. "This company wanted to buy them, to shut them down" is exactly the reason why the VP hasn't seen wider adoption, it's core technological concepts - such as mass modular design and a primary focus on renewable energy - have been adopted by many corporations, but lack the guiding principles of the VP. Partnerships with companies such as farminapod, would be a step in the right direction.
@@LeoLoughlin I agree. Collaboration is the way forward. But corporations and companies either get scared about RBE and the subsequent demise of the monetary system or they just want to perpetuate the current social order.
This is what happens when engineers try to work in agriculture. This isn’t holistic or natural. It’s mechanized food production, and it ignores a huge portion of what actually happens in agriculture systems. This is not the solution.
I concur wholely. There is a reason we plant in the soil is. Using chemicals is unnecessary. Greedy corporates and mass producers to this to make more money.
A great idea. Aquaponics is a great method too, but I would also work on a system that looks after the fish. Having fish swimming circles in a plastic "bucket" just to make poo is harsh.
Aquaponics and vertical farming with shipping container not a new ideal, making the system that mass producible an idiot proof that the challenge. Now when If they merge a large aquaponics warehouse farm with a small Thorium Molten Salt Reactor that's when it can make a big difference. But let's keep waiting for fusion, we already waited 80 years for fusion what another 80 years and a trillion dollars in grant money 💰.
Imagine a world after a disaster and no functioning internet, computer support and no mobile phone. Ordinary farm's works in all weather with or without manual labor. This system will not work! It's to sensitive to disturbens and relying to much on technology. Sorry, but I don't believe in this system. As a farmer boy I know what works or not. To find improvement to assure old, reliable technology is much better. Drop watering, etc is something that works well without to much technology involved.
Using fish reduces chemicals. What about the pipes you use? Are they food grade? I like this and willing to buy. Just would like food grade pipes to reduce chemicals in my food
I do not buy the story of refusing selling deal. I don't think we should convert parking lots into mini farms - we would end up building new parking lots. How much this container costs, and how much an hectare of land?
While watching this 7 minute video i was redirected to a 1 hour and 30 minutes "advert" that was clearly some investment advice scam.... poor form youtube
It's a good idea but my faith in humanity and the will to become better has gone away since today's financial model only cares about profit, profit, profit!!!
bringing convenience to localized farming is an amazing mission. facilitating self sufficiency on the household level is what we should shoot for. however, ever wondered if the fish like being in this tiny highly restrictive plastic tank, never making any novel experiences all their life? these are sentient animals with the capacity to learn and suffer. ask yourself, how long would it take for you to get depressed after realizing that walking back and forth in a white sterile room is all there is to your life? no animal should be confined like that. make it work without the fish.
I'm of a similar mind. High quality fertilizer could be produced using a compost system to replace the fish cycling situation, though it would be less automated I'd guess. Then again, some fish live their entire lives in very small ponds/pool systems - so maybe it isn't really as different as we think. It's hard to ask a fish, but I would be interested in the quality of the meat, as that is generally an indicator of stress in an animal's life
I like to think no fish can be depressed in this situation when the alternative is mother nature and a very very high chance they are being eaten by another fish... Fish are sentient but they are just happy to be alive
@@joshmason179 These fish don't have any stressors under proper care. Bellies full and no predators. I mean fish or birds not you and your neighbors LOL Plus in a good system the water is much healthier and cleaner for them then our rivers are. There is a reason Koi can live to be over 100 years old in artificial environments like this.
This is a total scam. There are so many things wrong with it. It is a perpetual motion machine. I went on their site - there is no price for the unit - the sure sign it is a scam. I have been growing plants my entire life in a greenhouse and promising 100+ pounds of food per week from a plot the size of a shipping container is so exaggerated, they could have promised a 1000+ pounds oh, why not 10000+. And how much is the price of those electronics? I think for the cost of the unit you can buy food for the rest of your life from the store and still have money left.
Dude. Do it off the shelf. Go look at hydroponics websites and price a system big enough for a greenhouse. Then look up aquaponics here on youtube. Used to be very few videos on here about it and the main one was this old black fella that I think might have come up with the idea. Now there are a lot of videos on it and I can't find his.
it'd be great if regulators force property owners to have one of these on each of their properties, or force Walmart's or other large business to have these in the parking lots. Or maybe just new homes being built, the solution to world hunger is to have every family have access to healthy food not just giving out money, money isn't the problem. Imagine how much money the government would save if it forced people on welfare to grow a majority of their own food and it would give them something to do.
Calm down. The first step is the stabilize jobs and force companies to actually pay a decent wage and stop screwing their employees so they can actually have time and energy to do this. As it is now the government would just waste billions trying to force people to adapt to this.
interesting concept, though i´m not sure why they insist on using shipping containers instead of building their system inside of already existing structures - for example, there´s a very similar set-up in a former brewery near my hometown. the fish swim in the old brewing kettles and the entire roof is one huge green house. they produce enough to supply their own restaurant and have plenty surplus to sell, making a decent profit - which is important too if you want a concept to spread beyond being a prototype
This is how traditional chinese rice farming worked - they put catfish in the flooded rice-fields, the catfish ate the harmful parasites and fungi and after the fields dried the fish-poop dried and became fertilizers for the next round of rice cultivation.
I've been growing food by aquaponics for 6 years now. I thought of using shipping containers, but never thought about having the greenhouse on the roof. Nice idea!
@@ADITYAKUMAR-jk9ry It depends on the style of Aquaponics, in the video they used a vertical racking system. This is best for leafy greens and plants that are lightweight. You can get more production and a quicker turn over this method. Other methods are Deep Water Culture (Dwc), or flood and drain. All have advantages, and disadvantages from one another.
@@jamaljenkins153 Actually.. You can also grow potatoes and root vegetables but i highly suggest using the aeroponics technique instead of media. Substitute hydroponic nutrient solution with fish nutrient solution and you have a Air-Aquaponics potato LOL Keep this our little secret Patten pending ;)
@@johnsnow5955 I have seen aeroponics done before, I just don't have any experience with that method. I don't really consider it Aquaponics, because you can't fully filter the water. It would take a massive amount of potatoes to filter aeroponicly. I think it's less work just putting potatoes in the ground. I did like the hammock aeroponics method though. I would love to see someone do it though John.
As a non-vegan you may not have consider or thought about this, but fish are actually thinking feeling intelligent sentient creatures, and this is enslavement and exploitation. its really sad and will in the future be looked down upon just as we now view slavery. there are other ways of achieving these farms without using other sentient beings to further our goals without their consent. the exploitation of non-human animals needs to end and will eventually end as we all come to learn of the depth of cruelty we are committing upon these innocent beings. they are not somethings, they are someones.
I respect this view but I don't wholly agree with it. I see aquaponic farming as a necessary step in the direction for animal and cruelty free farming. In your opinion, is the ethical impact of using fish in a system like this diminished if their environment mimicked their natural habitat, with artificial currents, reefs and daily light changes (and they weren't being eaten)?
@@jmcg3267 the ethical impact would not be diminished since we are still exploiting the fish without their consent. Its a mindset that drives something called Speciesm and its a real problem for animals sadly. also, cruelty free farming already exists. there are already vertical farms that use water and not fish. using fish is not at all necessary.
LIke every similar story on soilless grown food almost all the major vegetables grow in soil so I don't see how the ones limited to this method are going to 'feed the world'.
Yes!!! I’ve been having a vision of localized vertical farming in cities that grow food more productive food than farmers and to normalize front Lawn gardens as well as suburban farmers markets in which people can go to a place in their city and sell the extra foods they grow therefore it’s more organic and the city helps give these people patented licenses to sell them
I am all for a small business and innovation… But there is one thing these aquaponics operations always leave out when they tell you how wonderful their system is. Inputs. If the fish provide the nutrients for the plants, what provides the nutrients for the fish.? It is usually GMO field corn number 2 based fish feed. Grown on a monolithic mega farm with lots of diesel fuel and petroleum based fertilizers. But I guess that's an inconvenient reality and we all can't feel good about ourselves knowing it, so forget I said anything.
I know we are thinking of human centered solutions, but I have a major complaint with the animal aspect of these farms. They are living creatures, in a white box, usually in the dark! Can you imagine being shoved into that environment? Would you thrive? Great idea, I wish you luck, but please make all creatures needs, the priority. We will all be healthier as a result. One Health.
This is so amazing!! Reminds me of the work that’s happening at Oko Farms in NYC. Just imagine if he transitioned to the non profit sector!! Grants to create pods in urban communities, programs and jobs to incentives green jobs to the urban youth! Plus that same work with the private sector and schools! This is really amazing work here!
We are currently working with governments and schools and have setup a non profit to better help with that mission. We are also creating open source grade specific curriculums to turn farm pods into classrooms for both agriculture and stem learning.
We have a company in Australia that houses theirs in a shed with near %100 water retention… in fact the humidity in the shed provides the top up for the water tanks. It’s a great movement
Where does the fish-feed comes from? We are currently building a big farm in Ghana, using Aquaponic together with NewGrowingSystem robotic greenhouse. But we also produce the fishfeed from waste. So this farm will be 100% sustainable, because no external energy will be needed. All we need comes from the sun, rain and waste. We are turning waste into energy, food and feed.
Does it run exclusively on solar, or does it need mains? It's it completely self sufficient or does it require nutrients for the fish? Sustainably sourcing fish feed is still a problem or no?
How could it run on solar when the greenhouse is on top. Also of course the fish need food. The fish poo feeds the plants, the plants clean the water and return it to the fish, but the fish still need to be fed. it is just like traditional farming, but instead of applying fertilizers to the ground, you are applying fishfood to the fish, who convert it to fertilizer.
@@PeterSedesse I met this hippie on a bus once, who explained how they had built a completely closed loop "mini eco system" that basically produced fish and plants from sunlight. They would feed (some of?) the plants to the fish, and take out fish to eat when they grew too large or too many. I mean, that's kind of how the planet works, right? So it should be possible.
@@RasmusSchultz You could use duckweed or algae to feed a limited number of fish, but you would still need to add minerals. You would also need to power pumps to circulate the water. Tilapia require 300 days to reach harvesting size, so in order to eat 1 10oz tilapia each day, you would need to house 300ish fish which would require about 1000 gallons of water, which to maintain healthy water needs to pump 1000 gallons of water every 15 minutes ( industry standard). On top of that, you would need thousands of more gallons of water to produce the algae/duckweed. So you are talking about maybe 5000 gallons of water, a very strong pump running 24/7 in order to eat 1 fish a day. In most aquaponics systems they do not harvest any fish for this reason. And again, what you ' can ' do as a cool hobby experiment is not the same thing as being economically viable on a large scale. The grow area above a 20' shipping container will not produce anything more than some side salads for a family of 4.
WOW that’s gonna take decades to make any money. Need to get the cost down well under $10K (which is impossible). Never gonna make money like this. As someone who set up a vertical farm and has spent literally years researching all these types of concepts this ain’t ever gonna be a success. Loads of people have tried, it isn’t original, they all fail because of the economics. For a gimmick they are fun. For education they are cool. But always an expensive gimmick and never a profitable operation.
I love it. He just combined existing technology's to make something greater than the sum of its parts. Also no need for LED's so less energy consumption and if the fish reproduce you even get meat out of this system, ideally you feed the fish with plants grown from the farmpod and there is almost no input into the farmpod. Also kudos to not selling out. I think even if he did someone would probably have copied the idea and the people who bought him out would be at square one. Could also be useful, when setting up bases at other planets like Mars.
This isn't a viable option as the produce generated wouldn't be enough to sustain the fish. Most fish are Omnivores and require produce and meat to survive :) Fishy food is required as an input but can be mitigated with many different options.
If the market is for filleted fish, all fish scraps could be dried and pulverized to add to whatever vegetable matter the fish are fed, like pelletized animal feed. Another step in the process, but why stop there? All vegetable scraps not used in feeding the fish can be composted to create a nutrient rich garden additive.
This video doesn't really explain the benefits of aquaponics over hydroponics. They're already are automated hydroponic systems. What is the benefit of the fish?
No chemical fertilizers, no running costs for expensive chemical fertilizers, it's closed looped, and self cestainable. The fish fertilize the plants, the plants filter the water, and can produce food for both the fish, and human consumption.
@@jamaljenkins153 You also don't produce waste water that then must be disposed of. Any waste produced in aquaponics can be broken down and introduced back into the system as key micro nutrients or sold as all Natural liquid fertilizer.
@@johnsnow5955 This is true. A fact I failed to mention. Yes there is no waste water, I only top off my tanks due to plant up taking the water, and evaporation.
So sad that those shows like Shark Tank think selling out .This is incredible could see this in the south and heated building .Small town America could benefit.He has millions in this like solar .Wal Mart and Kroger don't like this .This would be a boom for farmers .
someone offered him a million dollars to stop trying to solve hunger. But the name of the client was not revealed. I would like to know who that is. Wouldn't you?
uhm the concept is already well known in parts of the world as far as i know. I saw a documentary on this topic around 10 years ago with exactly the same technique but without any "first of a kind" talking... concept is good, selling it to people is nah. This container is a nightmare to handle, move and use.. the software used is far more interesting to me
We have something very simular here in Berlin for some years now. You can buy herbs produced there in regular supermarkets. The major problem is the fish food. It is certified but its still animal based and from the ocean. Innovation in this area would be cool.
There are already several solutions and they would actually create more jobs. To my mind the problem is that someone like the Gates Foundation will come along and buy all the sectors involved and gain total control through an organ like Monsanto. In my humble opinion a new world order where there are NO elite, no super rich, no all powerful people must be created and encouraged at all costs. Oligarchs and the world's richest must be such a foreign concept and unappealing that everyone must endeavour to never be seen as being on their way to being one.
Hi Lisa, I am from Munich and I am really interested in starting a business with food growing. The company your are talking in Berlin doing similar stuff, could give me a contact please? I contacted FarmPod but they did not contacted me back for business opportunities in Germany. I think we need to more of this business running as the future plans are not looking good. better to be prepared. Thank you Lisa & take care
Dig the concept .. but why not just get fish emulsion from a fish farm where their not so lonely .. just saying those fish looked really bored… all in a all I want to build one
@@holleey Yes but then the issue becomes water consumption. The main draws to Aquaponics are the finite water usage and the recirculation that eliminates waste.
You guys are missing so much... all those pesticides are used to keep up to market standards of A grade products ... if that stands would just include A and B you can't compete with normal land... A grade includes color and size , lots of things can go wrong and farmers to keep em right are forced by YOU the consumer to keep up with those... you can't notice the difference in quality from A to B if not with laboratory tests and a trained eyes, For farmers the difference in income is about 4 times... if he doesn't produce enough A grade he just goes under... and you know what's funny. Retailers buy A and B products mix them and sell the evening as high grade
Zero chance of seeing ROI. These videos are produced to entice VC money. Too many have tried and failed. Fifth Season, Agrocool, AeroFarms, Glowfarms, etc. It will work if money is no object like in space, Iceland and other food deserts.
Here's an idea. Design communities AROUND food production (food forests/permaculture/) and keep the focus on resource based design. The whole way cities are designed in the first place is an utter fail unless one's goal is an overstimulating, consumerist rat race. There are numerous examples on this very platform of INDIVIDUALS terraforming otherwise hostile land into verdant Edens rich with biological diversity and abundance. Imagine what a wise group of holistically minded land stewards could do. People keep turning to "tech" as the answer and yet "tech" is the reason for the problem in the first place. Humans are knowledge rich and wisdom impoverished and this is an example of a bandaid not an actual solution. Too many creative folks missing the forest for the trees nipping at branches instead of looking to solve and or redesign an utterly flawed system. It's a big job....but that's what it's going to take.
5 hours of labour/week? Oh I doubt that. Just cleaning the sponges and disassembling the grow towers takes quite some time. Then all the varieties grown in the system to harvest/mixing also takes a lot time.. the only automation I saw/can imagine in this tiny space is pH/EC, light, temperature etc. sowing machine max as well that’s it.
The food produced in hydroponics quality depends on the plants being fed the correct nutrients. Because their environment is ideal for plants, it's also ideal for pests. There are also very toxic fish farms. In fact we have been strongly advised not to buy farmed fish.. A chap in South Africa has been selling container aquaponic farms for years.
I do believe that aquaponics is a must for the future, but this doesn't seem like a particularly great idea. I'm surprised that they didn't sell the business. I assume they weren't going to make enough profit for the time/money they invested and that's why they declined it. What's more I don't know the prices on these, but it feels like they will be quite expensive and you would need quite a few years before you break even on your investment. At the same time anyone who isn't lazy can do everything shown here by themselves. Order a container, check few videos on solar panels(if you want solar panels that is), arduino/raspberry pi, as well as some aquaponic videos and "just do it". Nothing particularly hard and you will save A LOT of money. What's more if it's in your garden on the side of the containers if they are free(no solar palens or other stuff) you can make a wall-mounted vegatable/flower garden on the walls to utilize that space as well. All this is nothing new and there are plenty of videos.
Yeah, theres a good reason you were being bought out to be shut down. Thus isn't a better way to grow food. If you are constantly relying on fundraising to fund your project that doesnt have nearly enough output to offset the dollars put in, yes, you will be bought out in order to shut down. It's not a game changing idea. Respect your more local farmers and please go buy food from them. They have more to offer.
Shipping container as your space = certain noob-level designer-type pipe dreams incoming. Brace for urbanites pet stereotypes, clickbaits and biology-defying failures of logic. You literally cannot choose worse box for anything living.
Yep. VF is not just aquaponics but hydroponics and aeroponics you're really not controlling the environment if the energy isn't sustainable nor the intent. It's a solution of course within a sustainable world that doesn't pollute.
Dude ... I'm literally with out a single word . And where did this magical idea come from ??? Ever live in Maine Mike?? I'm just sayin ,great luck to ya
What do you think of this vision of local, self-contained smart farms?
Why are prices never mentioned.
Can citizens put one right outside their houses?
Price will be prohibitive for normal bread eaters.
Much of the technology you exhibit is widely available and it's not expensive. Arduinos, Raspberries...thing is, not many people have the knowledge to put everything together and make it work. good thing is you have sharpened the pencil and adjusted the parameters quite well. It would be a great solution for a country like mine where the food mafias make us pay for the products much more than what we should.
World is collapsing?
As a person in love with sustainable farming, this is mostly BS. It is neat in theory, uses all the buzz words, and looks cool, but the actual vegetable production from the top of a 20' shipping container( 8ft wide) is negligible compared to the cost of all of that. if you are growing salad greens (the most profitable food/time/squareft crop there is) you would barely get a salad or two per day with that size of growing area. A 50 foot bed of lettuce, 30 inches wide with 6 inch on center planting produces about 50lbs of salad mix every 5 weeks, or basically 10lbs a week... sells for $5/lb.. so $50/week. I'd bet that pod can produce maybe $50-75/week of actual production and probably costs $40,000 or more. It is a nice gimmick for a restaurant to put one in front, but they will still be buying 99% of their salad greens and vegetables from a traditional market gardener. Math is math, the yield per square foot, even vertical, is very easy to calculate for anyone with experience market gardening. And the part about the ' buyout ' offer is BS also. There are no patents involved and you can look at that thing and be able to reproduce it for $20-30k, why would someone pay millions for it.. It is basic aquaponics with a tiny growing area, it is economically unviable, which is why ' they' are the only person doing it. it is easy easy math to look at the growing area, calculated yield and determine the break even point and that thing is way over a decade.
Yep you are right
I agree too. I have been doing aquaponics for the last 6 years and running Aquariums for the last 20 years. This video just makes me angry.
Absolutely true. I just see this as an expensive hobby.
And yet he'll garner raves and people will say he's changing the world. Nobody does any real critical thinking but instead just want to feel better about themselves so just by praising him, they feel they're doing their part in helping the environment...
I think you're missing the point. I don't fully like this particular design, but the point of it is having "ready made systems" that can yield enough production for personal use, since most people wouldn't have the space or the drive to do it themselves. Farms CAN successfully be vertical. There are really cool ones in Singapore (like Sky Greens) and they yield more than enough for commercial production. Those designs are smart. This one is, in my opinion and in this guy's own words, intended for the lazy farmer that has some spare parking space, pretty much.
I’ve had the identical idea several years ago except that the bottom “guts” of the system were under ground and the greenhouse was at ground level. You’d have to dig a hole to fit it but it would allow for better temperature control of the water reservoir…and you wouldn’t have to climb a ladder to get to the greenhouse. BUT..I’m so stoked to see that someone else had the same vision/idea and was able to manifest it in this way! I think that one of the next steps should be to create a DIY kit to sell to homeowners that they could assemble themselves in their yard.
That´s what I was thinking. Home owners and comunity groups over seas in Europe. I´m in Germany and so many people would love to get their hands on something like this. we have loads of shipping containers here so just the guts and good instructions.
@@In_fluss I see both above-ground and submerged format use, both of which can be insulated, and not just for food production. Containers for on site water storage can provide thermal storage. Homework for Mars and the Moon(s).
The idea of putting it in ground for temp control is smart but some ppl wouldn’t be able to do that like in FLORIDA because as soon as you start digging your gonna come in contact with water
Yep, build a new house and have a concrete basement area built with greenhouse on top.
Can be done in water soaked areas as well with membrane during construction.
@@ChicoGeneticsOfficial Be thankful that that water is available! But perhaps some foam or fiberglass insulation?
Extremely inspired by the fact, he didn't settle for a lucrative exit if it wasn't aligned with the end goal. Kudos Mike.
Or the evaluation was too low and/or they had more debt than the offer
Like the guy that invented a 200 mpg carburetor, he could have sold out.
I could imagine one of these pods in between a couple of apartment buildings, providing fresh fish and vegetables to families in each building. *WHAT A BOON FOR INNER CITY FOOD DESERTS*
Agreed, really inspiring! And for what it's worth the 200mpg carburetor is an urban legend, for better or worse 🙂. thenewswheel.com/urban-legends-about-cars-the-200-mpg-carburetor/
@@freethink wow thats an interesting topic
You’re amazing for not selling for just the money!
"They were trying to buy us to shut us down" Kinda reminds me of the time American automobile industries bought out all the streetcars in Oakland and got rid of them.
Yes, you touch on a whole situation absolutely pregnant with information. Union Oil, and central planning that concentrated homes at a distance from work centers, necessitating highways and CARS.
I am from Michigan, lived in Camarillo CA, love cars and bikes, but hated the idea of wasting so much time in a car, idling on the 101 with the AC on. Going to a bike was a vast improvement for time, energy, and enjoyment. But I must acknowledge any high kinetic transportation consumes precious energy and risks injury and death.
Decentralizing systems (political control, energy, food production, etc.) builds in redundancy, robustness, liberty while franchising and empowering individuals. Solar on ones house, having tbe ability to raise food to use and/or sell (buy and sell energy too) by leveraging a marketplace on the internet, facilitated by autonomous drones, cars, and even trucks is a vibrant future I can imagine.
GM that stopped making electric cars because they were successful in getting legislators to increase allowable levels of air pollution….and then destroyed all of these cars that they could get their hands on (facing bankruptcy now for that one)
@@willm5814 Serves them right. I hope they don't get bailed out again. When you have a better product but you destroy it because you can make more profit from the worse one you shouldn't be in business. Eventually someone will copy or even improve your better product and you are screwed.
Whenever someone tries to buy you out on the ground floor, you know you're on the right stairway. Keep climbing.
I bet that was a meat or dairy company
its an interesting system, and I hope he can achieve his goal, but saying that he developed the concept is false. It has been done countless times before and aquaponics dates back to the Aztecs.
This version is way different since they added features so any lazy farmer can produce enough
It always worries me when i see a video about a new technology and there are no problems or caveats shown. I feel the more informative videos at least have a section showing the challenges of applying the technology.
Like for example this technology will not feed the world, most of our calories come from grains which these setups cannot produce in enough quantities. They can help with food diversity, but a simple greenhouse in the outskirts of a city would have much higher impact than these tech and energy heavy setups.
its a con .
Yep just some good old fashioned running away with the investors’ money. If you can entice some Silicon Valley investors you’ll be laughing all the way to the bank. Which is why they’re yakking away about “high tech” this and that.
Edit: Ok so I’m halfway through the video and they’ve mentioned automation, ease of use and they’ve proposed that their product is worth millions of dollars.
Edit 2: Well at least he knows that if you can get public funding for your miracle product then you’re really gonna make some money.
Let’s wait and see if they manage to con someone I suppose.
We did have many issues. We had towers the leaked list nutrients rich water, until we got the angle just right. We had drippers that clogged until we perfected the cleaning cycles. We had to much sensitive gear in the pod, until we build the machine room design. And probably a hundred more items. We just kept working through them until we got them right with the goal of creating the most simplified and stable system we could. We talked about some of it while they were filming but I just think they couldn't fit it all in in the 7 minutes.
@@farmpod7545 First to subscribe! Looking forward to future videos!
@@farmpod7545 how much is a pod worth
this is dope. So many new innovative technologies on the horizon.
Universities have done this for almost a decade now, including the aquaponic inside containers. Right here on youtube. Many big universities like purdue also
Robotics 3d printing, A.i, and machine learning were not at the level they are today but I get where you were trying to go. Thats no different than the fact we had electric car capabilities 100 years ago but most people don't know there were electric buggies on the road until the gas vehicles won the nepotism fight of that day and postponed the inevitable. In any event I think they are doing a great job with their technology and I'm glad they didn't accept that offer. what that company tried to do is the same thing that happens all the time with new innovation- big company or player of the day stands on mountaintop of complacency, sees competition with something they perceive as a threat, then they either squeeze them out through their big buddies in government or they try to make them an offer they hopefully can't refuse.
Definitely! And for what it's worth, FarmPods and related technologies are already available! They've begun hitting the market in the last few years; it'll be exciting to see if they take off as the tech continues to mature, improve and come down in cost. There's so much innovation happening, it'll be really exciting to see how things change in the coming years!
@@dertythegrower and it hasn’t been used for commercial production because aquaponics are extremely unsustainable. God gave us soil, and we’re meant to use it holistically. Look at this system and you see what? Plastic, food imports that come from grain grown on fields, metal, electricity, more plastic. It’s not smart. If you really care quit eating unsustainable food products (40% of US land is used for animal ag) and do some research on truly natural and holistic agriculture systems. That being said, large greenhouses, although still using plastic and steel, use a much lower percentage than something like this because area increases at a faster rate than perimeter and they also require less temperature control because volume does too.
@@watchman727 My personal problem is how it is framed.
They act as if it were a completely new ground breaking idea.
While we have one of these things sitting around in our community garden.
It's exhausting to keep hearing about their invotive startup concepts.
Then you look it up and ah yes it's a technology that was developed by students or activists or hobbyists 10 years ago.
There are a ton of freight farms already. I think all of this ‘’ we started this’’ is wildly ignorant. Their mission is amazing and what they’re doing is amazing, but they didn’t invent the wheel.
This has been around for decades yes
Doesn't matter. Some company wanted them buy them out, and destroy these dreams. Apparently the idea to buy out DIY food pods, must've worked back in the day. Some hippie took them money, and didn't try this idea on a bigger scale. Or maybe they always got bought out, and that was that. This time, these guys finally said no to the big money. And this time they have a video on youtube!
Yeah the trick is to make it like the building company Boxabl - where easy installation and something that would be low maintenance once operational and of course affordable
if you could combine every technology that Freethink is showing, our world could be Garden Eden...
When you watch enough of these Freethink videos you start to realize that for just about every problem we have in the world - especially the basic needs like food, water, energy, shelter, clothing and transport - there are viable solutions. The problem that keeps coming up, if people open their eyes, is capitalism. This video is a prime example. This amazing technology and innovation that can localize food production all over the world was threatened to be bought out, that technology hidden and buried, if it wasn't for the decision to keep it going in the right direction. How many other great inventions and innovations have been created but then essentially bought out by capitalists? And you can't even blame the capitalists, they are just playing the game that capitalism demands of them within the system. If we don't change the system that incentivizes these negative behaviours then we'll never get to beautiful, sustainable future that is possible.
@@coolioso808 Naive comment. Yes, competitive forces can hinder a new innovation of coming to fruition.
Yes capitalism is the reason any of these technologies exist or have the chance to exist in the first place.
Go ahead and design a better incentive system, I'm waiting.
@@coolioso808 it’s not capitalism that’s the fundamental issue. Its human greed for money and power which will shine through in any style of government. The thing about capitalism versus a totalitarian style government is that businesses like this still have a chance to succeed although the odds are against them. In a socialist/communist system the government would already own the means of food production and this business would never be anything more than a dream.
@@Humanaut. Capitalism is unsustainable as a socio-economic system. How do you not know that by now? It doesn't matter how romantic capitalism may have been in the past, it has no sustainability as a system going forward. That's not ME saying that, it's Mother Nature. She won't allow it, or she'll show us what dystopia looks like for the vast majority of people. Every life support system is in decline. Check the data: Biodiversity loss, rainforest deforestation, ocean acidification, more extreme weather, droughts, floods, etc. That's capitalism's lovely incentives. How could you not think of a better system?
If you can't, here's one: resource based economy. This goes beyond any "-ism" people love to throw out there. It isn't socialism or communism because those systems still use money and politicians. I'm talking 21st Century economy where we aren't acting like children playing a board game. We use the scientific process and a collective inventory of Earth's resources to distribute them properly to meet people's basic needs, at minimum. No money, politics and bloody wars needed. See how that would be better? If you don't think so, pose a reasonable question or comment why that isn't technically possible and better than the system we have now.
@@majorkee3001 Unfortunately, capitalism doesn't exist in a vacuum. It's a system and systems create problems if they are not designed well. The propaganda around capitalism is strong. Most of us have no idea how much it affects our world view of what is possible vs. what is possible under the made-up restrictions of capitalism. Human greed and money did not exist for over 90% of human history. We wouldn't be here today if our human nature was to be greedy like how capitalism incentivizes ruthless competitiveness and insane levels of inequality and waste!
The incentives of capitalism are unsustainable on a planet with finite resources. And while you are at it, throw out all the old money-based systems as well. Don't need socialism or communism, they used money and thus still have the negative incentives for misuse and corruption.
But allow your mind to think past the fake and into the real. The real is what resources we really have on Earth and what we can really do with them to organize an efficient system, guided by the scientific process. The only centralization would be the inventory of Earth's resources, but then everything else would be regional or community-controlled, democratically without the need for bloody politicians. Want to talk about real freedom? How about no threat of money scams because there is money needed for basic needs to be met. People freed from their labor-for-income slavery - finally, real freedom.
This is really cool, unfortunatly, I'm guessing the average person cant afford this device.
There are 8 billion people on this planet.
I hope they seriously think about expanding. They can do the design and iterations. They don't have to build the things themselves. There are plenty of clients who would love something like this in their backyard (for fun or also for billionaires' apocalypse escape plan), and they will pay to hire engineers/contractors to do all the building. Then they'll provide data point back for more iterative design improvements.
That's an interesting idea! It'll be neat to see whether hardware or software becomes the best route to produce this. There's a lot of companies working on container farms, so hopefully they take a variety of approaches and we can see which win out over time.
With all the interests and orders coming in, we are now looking at having FarmPod built in multiple locations to make them available faster and more affordable. We were reluctant in the past as we want to endure the quality and the stability of the product.
I think they should make it all open source so that anyone in the world could replicate it.
especially since their core boards are running opensource rasperry pis ...
@ 3:41
It's a really interesting question--when do you open source things, and when do you create a startup to monetize them?
There are a number of pros and cons--here's a few:
Pros: You could potentially develop the technology faster, and get it out to more people more quickly.
Cons: You need a significant amount of money to develop shipping container farms - so you might not be able to do it without startup funding, and open sourcing the technology could make it less valuable since anyone could use it. Additionally, not many people in the open source community will have access to a shipping container farm to work on, so will a community capable of making valuable contributions develop around it and make it worth maintaining the project as open source?
@@freethink as a computer engineer who is actively doing hydrophobic systems. The control systems 100% do not have to be tied to the container. You do not have to have the exact same setup to have a stable contribution path. Nor would you want to. I guess. Is the goal to create more hydroponic systems in more environments to feed more people? Open source it. There are clean monetization paths for startups in this space. See group gets, see literally hundreds of products from hack a day.
It is 100% possible. The development path is just different. You couldn’t have a giant garage taking on debt like they are right now.
If the goal is to only sell prepackaged containers and that’s it. Then ye, I guess keep it closed. But I’ll tell you what. I’d never put that in my backyard. Most business would also like some flexibility.
my shed? Sure. Roof. Sure. Trailer. Sure. Most these systems require very little alterations from the control systems point of view.
Open source is coming to this space if this container group wants it or not.
@@freethink shipping container, $2500 USD, poly greenhouse $1000 (generous), Raspberry Pi, assorted relays, temp sensors - $100, super fancy water monitoring kit $1000. Solar panels can be bought second hand for under 25 cents a watt. Even new panels are that cheap. Batteries are big investment. I know because my project is open source and I do use a Pi, solar, batteries, and assorted sensors. Just no shipping container or fancy water monitoring yet.
Still over complicated. Think of it in terms of marijuana. Outdoor will yield higher quantities indoor will just produce higher quality. If we are trying to feed a planet there is no reason for down sizing production. Sure it’s nice idea, but I don’t think setting up a 30k shipping container grow op to produce 50¢ tomatoes year round will ever be worth it. It’s like the solar panal start up cost scenarios were it’ll take years to for it to pay it’s self off.
Yeah but if you apply it to outdoors with hydroponics or aquaponics you can grow vertically without soil so you can grow more in the same space as you would with soil and use less water and take up far less space or you could even scale up the hydroponic/aquaponics indoors it's already happening and they produce almost 500 times more in a square metre then soil
We are so glad to see that more and more people are finally setting up automated, and integrated greenhouses (in so many countries). The concepts and countless different prototypes have been around for decades. Thousands of videos can be seen here. I can`t believe a newcomer states this to be his idea. Outrageous and unthankful towards all the inventors, developers and firms who have fought for this and made it possible. Not a single aspect of the farm pot is new. Please let us give respect to the people who have earned it. Now I wish Farmpod all the best. We need you and many more firms like you...
I appreciate your point, but I think their idea is the part that makes it a package solution that comes setup and nearly maintains itself. If you're familiar with the various tech and concepts involved here, you know it takes many hours of research, fabrication, setup, and fine tuning.
@@LogicBob Yah but still it is just his version of a packaged solution.
Systems like this have been sold for quite some time now.
Still his idea but just isn't as astounding as he tries to make it sound lol
He is a salesman after all.
Works great as long as you have a reliable electrical supply
Just wanted to chime in. We have totally respect for all the agriculture tech that has come before us. We wouldn't be here without people like Don Bailey at UVI, Nate from Bright Agrotech, Tom Watson (inventor of the shower greenhouse), all the engineers on our team at Sandia Labs. They all worked with us to make this possible. They just didn't have time to go into it all in the video I think. And yes much of the component tech existed in different forms, Our goal was always to put it together into an affordable deliverable package so that everyone can benefit from them.
Lighten up! Do you know how many people were working on the electric light, the automobile, and airplane at the same time ? If the guy’s brain makes a connection he’s never seen before, the fact that someone, somewhere may have also had that idea before him doesn’t take away from his inspiration. In fact, it doesn’t matter who was first or before. If you want to talk about who gets the credit, it matters who gets to the patent office first.
they run out of money several times? All the technology is all ready available. Why the high cost for development?
Awesome stuff! I'm doing the same in Uganda with a low cost version of a very similar system. Urban food production reduces supply chains as it allows food to go from farm to table. It gets people in touch with their food and is just super tasty!
That's amazing! Good luck with everything you're doing!
If you get an opportunity to visit Kenya, come link with chamie farm in Nairobi we are also implementing aquaponics projects around the urban regions
I'd love to see more Peter, do you have any social media channels to follow?
Cute idea, but the reality of this helping in any meaningful way to feed the world is ludicrous. People need at least 2,000 calories/day and greens, even with fish, can't provide this. When someone figures out a way to grow root crops, like potatoes, or grains in a pod then that will be the breakthrough we need.
All this video is is an advertisement for their product.
There´s one container underneath missing.
The container for insekts ( insekt breeding ) to feed the fish.
And if you want to make it perfekt, ad another container for mushrooms too ;)
Not to minimize this effort... But, this looks very similar to Kimbal Musk's (Elon's brother) is doing with BigGreen. Pod, automation, hyper-local, but not a copy.
I think I can see there are important differences between the systems. But on the surface they look very similar because they are shooting for the same form-factor. For example, Tesla isn't a copy of a Ford just because it has four wheels, doors, and a windshield.
um aquaponics is hundreds if not thousands of years old. it's silly to argue about who copied whom.
@@holleeyUm, Holly. I didn't mention aquaponics, or copying either. (Actually I did mention "copy", as in "not a copy"). But perhaps I've read and responded to your comment a little more thoughtfully than you.
I will add that I brought up the fact that it looks (to me) they are using the same (or similar) form-function, and I wonder what a compare & contrast between tbe two would show? Having those two data-points would be helpful advancing the products.
I used to facilitate Ford and GE Appliance to run benchmarks on each otber's design and manufacturing processes. This is a cooperation Henry Ford and Edison set up generations ago for two similar companies to improve each other without jeopardizing their customer base.
Sell to the masses by sizing for the number of people it can support and for the different climates they will be in. Then concentrate on making it affordable by selling plans to the DIY community selling only the critical components that would be needed. Keep refining to keep the cost as low as possible to the end user. That's how you benefit society.
The number of people one of these can support is less than one. It is an excellent idea don't get me wrong but you can't feed yourself on one shipping container worth of space, would probably need 5-10.
Thank you for sharing. Keep up the good work!!
I'm currently building one. Been dreaming of an aquaponic green house since I was in middle school. Solar, wind, geo-thermically powered and all. This is truly the future of agriculture
awesome, do you have any social media channels we can follow your build?
How do you feed the fish? What kind of fish feed do you use? Depending on your answer here, this can be a complete waste of time, or a wonderful idea. I remain to be convinced of the second one...
Fish are omnivores in most cases and can handle a very wide verity of food from DIY home made to bulk processed pellets used in raising other fish on farms.
You could put duckweed in the tanks. Don't know how wise that is as I don't know what kind of nutrients it provides, but there are surely a variety of aquatic plants that could live in the same tank.
To the *incredible person* seeing this, I wish you all the best in life❤ don't over blame yourself, accept things and go forward. Don't let others define what “success” is for you. Get up, learn the skills needed and get after it, all the keys to a happy life is in your hands. Keep pushing.
ebegging?
This idea already exists in a more efficient way in the Venus Project by Jacque Fresco! But hats off to these guys anyway!
One of the many challenges facing the Venus Project is in 'the how' of successfully transitioning from our current system, to a RBE.
"This company wanted to buy them, to shut them down" is exactly the reason why the VP hasn't seen wider adoption, it's core technological concepts - such as mass modular design and a primary focus on renewable energy - have been adopted by many corporations, but lack the guiding principles of the VP.
Partnerships with companies such as farminapod, would be a step in the right direction.
@@LeoLoughlin I agree. Collaboration is the way forward. But corporations and companies either get scared about RBE and the subsequent demise of the monetary system or they just want to perpetuate the current social order.
This is what happens when engineers try to work in agriculture. This isn’t holistic or natural. It’s mechanized food production, and it ignores a huge portion of what actually happens in agriculture systems. This is not the solution.
I concur wholely. There is a reason we plant in the soil is. Using chemicals is unnecessary. Greedy corporates and mass producers to this to make more money.
A great idea. Aquaponics is a great method too, but I would also work on a system that looks after the fish. Having fish swimming circles in a plastic "bucket" just to make poo is harsh.
I wonder if there is a way to not use fish at all.
@@bhaveshtailor3613 fish is great protein
nice job but you have just over complicated the old chop and flip aquaponics system..
Poor fish sealed in tiny white jail.
Better then being eaten by the bigger fish don't you think?
Always hiding and running from something bigger then you.
sure doesn't sound fun.
Not the first 'shipping container farms', but kudos to their enthusiasm and motivation. Hope for their success, and more competition...
Aquaponics and vertical farming with shipping container not a new ideal, making the system that mass producible an idiot proof that the challenge.
Now when If they merge a large aquaponics warehouse farm with a small Thorium Molten Salt Reactor that's when it can make a big difference. But let's keep waiting for fusion, we already waited 80 years for fusion what another 80 years and a trillion dollars in grant money 💰.
Imagine a world after a disaster and no functioning internet, computer support and no mobile phone. Ordinary farm's works in all weather with or without manual labor. This system will not work! It's to sensitive to disturbens and relying to much on technology. Sorry, but I don't believe in this system.
As a farmer boy I know what works or not. To find improvement to assure old, reliable technology is much better. Drop watering, etc is something that works well without to much technology involved.
Plus this is a old but efficient system that is used and has been used to grow cannabis
You can grow about anything in aquaponics.
Using fish reduces chemicals. What about the pipes you use? Are they food grade? I like this and willing to buy. Just would like food grade pipes to reduce chemicals in my food
I do not buy the story of refusing selling deal. I don't think we should convert parking lots into mini farms - we would end up building new parking lots. How much this container costs, and how much an hectare of land?
While watching this 7 minute video i was redirected to a 1 hour and 30 minutes "advert" that was clearly some investment advice scam.... poor form youtube
It's a good idea but my faith in humanity and the will to become better has gone away since today's financial model only cares about profit, profit, profit!!!
I still believe in mass production of farming with growing produce at a wide scale
I will accomplish this With my design I’ve had for years
aquaponics is the best way to produce meat and vegetables from fish aquaponics. this is proven by perdue on youtube itself. purdue aquaponics videos
Almost like...Kimbal Musk copy and pasted the idea. Except without the smart part.
Like it. 2 things: it seems too small to me, 4x the size could make it more economic. And why a shipping container? Maybe good value, but is it ideal?
Small spaces in the inner city.
I'm all for capitalism, but if his goal is to feed the world, this will be open source'd!
Nothing he is doing is proprietary I mean besides like maybe his layout.
All the tech is online just need the knowledge and know how.
@@johnsnow5955 Yeah, of course
Cute, but not practical at scale and not even really necessary. There is no point in aquaponics outside space travel and the Sahara
What's capex to setup. How sustainable it is on harsh ambient climates and what plants are viable.
it sad some big corps do that buy small places too stop them its messed up
Why would you say you came up with it? It has been used in various forms for centuries
As a farmer who doesn t use any chimicals i can tell you this guy is selling you over priced crap
bringing convenience to localized farming is an amazing mission.
facilitating self sufficiency on the household level is what we should shoot for.
however, ever wondered if the fish like being in this tiny highly restrictive plastic tank, never making any novel experiences all their life? these are sentient animals with the capacity to learn and suffer. ask yourself, how long would it take for you to get depressed after realizing that walking back and forth in a white sterile room is all there is to your life? no animal should be confined like that. make it work without the fish.
I'm of a similar mind. High quality fertilizer could be produced using a compost system to replace the fish cycling situation, though it would be less automated I'd guess. Then again, some fish live their entire lives in very small ponds/pool systems - so maybe it isn't really as different as we think. It's hard to ask a fish, but I would be interested in the quality of the meat, as that is generally an indicator of stress in an animal's life
@@joshmason179 good idea
@@stevves4647 Thanks!
I like to think no fish can be depressed in this situation when the alternative is mother nature and a very very high chance they are being eaten by another fish...
Fish are sentient but they are just happy to be alive
@@joshmason179 These fish don't have any stressors under proper care.
Bellies full and no predators.
I mean fish or birds not you and your neighbors LOL
Plus in a good system the water is much healthier and cleaner for them then our rivers are.
There is a reason Koi can live to be over 100 years old in artificial environments like this.
too much talking, not enough on the 'farmpod'.
Just a basic ad.
We have this on the south side of Chicago for at least 5 years. Look up Emmanuel Pratt.
It's literally Kimbal Musk container farm copycat.
So you created another way for gardening to be expensive. Ok.
This is a total scam. There are so many things wrong with it. It is a perpetual motion machine. I went on their site - there is no price for the unit - the sure sign it is a scam. I have been growing plants my entire life in a greenhouse and promising 100+ pounds of food per week from a plot the size of a shipping container is so exaggerated, they could have promised a 1000+ pounds oh, why not 10000+. And how much is the price of those electronics? I think for the cost of the unit you can buy food for the rest of your life from the store and still have money left.
Dude. Do it off the shelf. Go look at hydroponics websites and price a system big enough for a greenhouse. Then look up aquaponics here on youtube. Used to be very few videos on here about it and the main one was this old black fella that I think might have come up with the idea. Now there are a lot of videos on it and I can't find his.
it'd be great if regulators force property owners to have one of these on each of their properties, or force Walmart's or other large business to have these in the parking lots. Or maybe just new homes being built, the solution to world hunger is to have every family have access to healthy food not just giving out money, money isn't the problem. Imagine how much money the government would save if it forced people on welfare to grow a majority of their own food and it would give them something to do.
Calm down. The first step is the stabilize jobs and force companies to actually pay a decent wage and stop screwing their employees so they can actually have time and energy to do this. As it is now the government would just waste billions trying to force people to adapt to this.
interesting concept, though i´m not sure why they insist on using shipping containers instead of building their system inside of already existing structures - for example, there´s a very similar set-up in a former brewery near my hometown. the fish swim in the old brewing kettles and the entire roof is one huge green house. they produce enough to supply their own restaurant and have plenty surplus to sell, making a decent profit - which is important too if you want a concept to spread beyond being a prototype
Simple: because then they would need to offer a custom solution for every sale. With the shipping container, they have a ready made product.
This is how traditional chinese rice farming worked - they put catfish in the flooded rice-fields, the catfish ate the harmful parasites and fungi and after the fields dried the fish-poop dried and became fertilizers for the next round of rice cultivation.
Nice we really can learn some stuff from how ancient cultures maintained themselves.
I've been growing food by aquaponics for 6 years now. I thought of using shipping containers, but never thought about having the greenhouse on the roof. Nice idea!
What all can u grow ? ... Like all the Vegetables ? cuz in this video I just saw chillis and salad stuff .
@@ADITYAKUMAR-jk9ry It depends on the style of Aquaponics, in the video they used a vertical racking system. This is best for leafy greens and plants that are lightweight. You can get more production and a quicker turn over this method. Other methods are Deep Water Culture (Dwc), or flood and drain. All have advantages, and disadvantages from one another.
@@ADITYAKUMAR-jk9ry Also to answer your question. You can grow everything except potatoes because they produce underground in mass.
@@jamaljenkins153 Actually.. You can also grow potatoes and root vegetables but i highly suggest using the aeroponics technique instead of media.
Substitute hydroponic nutrient solution with fish nutrient solution and you have a Air-Aquaponics potato LOL
Keep this our little secret Patten pending ;)
@@johnsnow5955 I have seen aeroponics done before, I just don't have any experience with that method. I don't really consider it Aquaponics, because you can't fully filter the water. It would take a massive amount of potatoes to filter aeroponicly. I think it's less work just putting potatoes in the ground. I did like the hammock aeroponics method though. I would love to see someone do it though John.
There should be a link to their website or something in the description
As a non-vegan you may not have consider or thought about this, but fish are actually thinking feeling intelligent sentient creatures, and this is enslavement and exploitation. its really sad and will in the future be looked down upon just as we now view slavery. there are other ways of achieving these farms without using other sentient beings to further our goals without their consent. the exploitation of non-human animals needs to end and will eventually end as we all come to learn of the depth of cruelty we are committing upon these innocent beings. they are not somethings, they are someones.
I respect this view but I don't wholly agree with it. I see aquaponic farming as a necessary step in the direction for animal and cruelty free farming. In your opinion, is the ethical impact of using fish in a system like this diminished if their environment mimicked their natural habitat, with artificial currents, reefs and daily light changes (and they weren't being eaten)?
@@jmcg3267 the ethical impact would not be diminished since we are still exploiting the fish without their consent. Its a mindset that drives something called Speciesm and its a real problem for animals sadly.
also, cruelty free farming already exists. there are already vertical farms that use water and not fish. using fish is not at all necessary.
LIke every similar story on soilless grown food almost all the major vegetables grow in soil so I don't see how the ones limited to this method are going to 'feed the world'.
You can grow almost anything in aquaponics there system just isn't set up to do that..
this video seems like they could lay off the manure a little.
can these systems be applied on flat topped urban buildings?
I just discovered this channel. I feel like the videos are way too short. I would watch an hour-long documentary about this.
Yes!!! I’ve been having a vision of localized vertical farming in cities that grow food more productive food than farmers and to normalize front Lawn gardens as well as suburban farmers markets in which people can go to a place in their city and sell the extra foods they grow therefore it’s more organic and the city helps give these people patented licenses to sell them
More productive than farmers? You live in a legal weed state perchance?
I just want a system where I get food for minimal work and mainly uses my grey water because I don't want to spend extra money.
Huh what else on the bucket list? a rainbow that rains skittles.... in reality you will need about 20 acres to sustain yourself
I am all for a small business and innovation… But there is one thing these aquaponics operations always leave out when they tell you how wonderful their system is. Inputs. If the fish provide the nutrients for the plants, what provides the nutrients for the fish.? It is usually GMO field corn number 2 based fish feed. Grown on a monolithic mega farm with lots of diesel fuel and petroleum based fertilizers. But I guess that's an inconvenient reality and we all can't feel good about ourselves knowing it, so forget I said anything.
Why couldn't you dedicate part of the space to growing the food for the fish? Don't they eat greens?
Maybe have one tank only for duckweed?
I know we are thinking of human centered solutions, but I have a major complaint with the animal aspect of these farms. They are living creatures, in a white box, usually in the dark! Can you imagine being shoved into that environment? Would you thrive?
Great idea, I wish you luck, but please make all creatures needs, the priority. We will all be healthier as a result. One Health.
Some structures and sand would no go astray, especially for Tilapia fish as they like to dig.
Yeah yeah wake me up when it becomes viable.
Good luck not freezing up in Wyoming
Do you have an energy audit on this system?
This is so amazing!! Reminds me of the work that’s happening at Oko Farms in NYC. Just imagine if he transitioned to the non profit sector!! Grants to create pods in urban communities, programs and jobs to incentives green jobs to the urban youth! Plus that same work with the private sector and schools! This is really amazing work here!
Oko farms looks super cool, thanks for sharing!!
@@freethink I’d want one outside my house in the country
We are currently working with governments and schools and have setup a non profit to better help with that mission. We are also creating open source grade specific curriculums to turn farm pods into classrooms for both agriculture and stem learning.
@@farmpod7545 That’s so Amazing! Your work is truly inspiring! Adding you on Instagram now! Keep up the great work 😊
Lol if you park these where the "urban youth" live they will be looted for valuable parts within hours.
We have a company in Australia that houses theirs in a shed with near %100 water retention… in fact the humidity in the shed provides the top up for the water tanks.
It’s a great movement
Do you have a name of the company?
@@aaronbrent-fulps2495 no I don’t on hand … I’ll have to go digging for it.
Perfect for raising red claws....
I hope it all works out for them. They deserve it
Where does the fish-feed comes from? We are currently building a big farm in Ghana, using Aquaponic together with NewGrowingSystem robotic greenhouse. But we also produce the fishfeed from waste. So this farm will be 100% sustainable, because no external energy will be needed. All we need comes from the sun, rain and waste. We are turning waste into energy, food and feed.
Does it run exclusively on solar, or does it need mains?
It's it completely self sufficient or does it require nutrients for the fish? Sustainably sourcing fish feed is still a problem or no?
How could it run on solar when the greenhouse is on top. Also of course the fish need food. The fish poo feeds the plants, the plants clean the water and return it to the fish, but the fish still need to be fed. it is just like traditional farming, but instead of applying fertilizers to the ground, you are applying fishfood to the fish, who convert it to fertilizer.
@@PeterSedesse I met this hippie on a bus once, who explained how they had built a completely closed loop "mini eco system" that basically produced fish and plants from sunlight. They would feed (some of?) the plants to the fish, and take out fish to eat when they grew too large or too many. I mean, that's kind of how the planet works, right? So it should be possible.
@@RasmusSchultz You could use duckweed or algae to feed a limited number of fish, but you would still need to add minerals. You would also need to power pumps to circulate the water. Tilapia require 300 days to reach harvesting size, so in order to eat 1 10oz tilapia each day, you would need to house 300ish fish which would require about 1000 gallons of water, which to maintain healthy water needs to pump 1000 gallons of water every 15 minutes ( industry standard). On top of that, you would need thousands of more gallons of water to produce the algae/duckweed. So you are talking about maybe 5000 gallons of water, a very strong pump running 24/7 in order to eat 1 fish a day. In most aquaponics systems they do not harvest any fish for this reason. And again, what you ' can ' do as a cool hobby experiment is not the same thing as being economically viable on a large scale. The grow area above a 20' shipping container will not produce anything more than some side salads for a family of 4.
Hmm, I wonder how it holds up in a hurricane? 🤔
How do plants in the ground or in a traditional greenhouse hold up to a hurricane?
The sucess of this is making it as simple as possible, 5 hour labor per week is a lot, also how much food production does it bring to a restaurant?
WOW that’s gonna take decades to make any money. Need to get the cost down well under $10K (which is impossible).
Never gonna make money like this. As someone who set up a vertical farm and has spent literally years researching all these types of concepts this ain’t ever gonna be a success. Loads of people have tried, it isn’t original, they all fail because of the economics.
For a gimmick they are fun. For education they are cool. But always an expensive gimmick and never a profitable operation.
I love it. He just combined existing technology's to make something greater than the sum of its parts. Also no need for LED's so less energy consumption and if the fish reproduce you even get meat out of this system, ideally you feed the fish with plants grown from the farmpod and there is almost no input into the farmpod. Also kudos to not selling out. I think even if he did someone would probably have copied the idea and the people who bought him out would be at square one. Could also be useful, when setting up bases at other planets like Mars.
This isn't a viable option as the produce generated wouldn't be enough to sustain the fish.
Most fish are Omnivores and require produce and meat to survive :)
Fishy food is required as an input but can be mitigated with many different options.
If the market is for filleted fish, all fish scraps could be dried and pulverized to add to whatever vegetable matter the fish are fed, like pelletized animal feed. Another step in the process, but why stop there? All vegetable scraps not used in feeding the fish can be composted to create a nutrient rich garden additive.
@@robertlussier2944 Cannabalising fish breeds diseases. If a specie feeds on itself it ends up being destroyed. There are hundreds of other options.
@@adnel4142 you mean fish don't naturally eat each other in the wild? OK
This video doesn't really explain the benefits of aquaponics over hydroponics. They're already are automated hydroponic systems. What is the benefit of the fish?
No chemical fertilizers, no running costs for expensive chemical fertilizers, it's closed looped, and self cestainable. The fish fertilize the plants, the plants filter the water, and can produce food for both the fish, and human consumption.
you also get to eat the fish😃
@@politiciansarehonestNOT yes you do.
@@jamaljenkins153 You also don't produce waste water that then must be disposed of.
Any waste produced in aquaponics can be broken down and introduced back into the system as key micro nutrients or sold as all Natural liquid fertilizer.
@@johnsnow5955 This is true. A fact I failed to mention. Yes there is no waste water, I only top off my tanks due to plant up taking the water, and evaporation.
So sad that those shows like Shark Tank think selling out .This is incredible could see this in the south and heated building .Small town America could benefit.He has millions in this like solar .Wal Mart and Kroger
don't like this .This would be a boom for farmers .
someone offered him a million dollars to stop trying to solve hunger. But the name of the client was not revealed. I would like to know who that is. Wouldn't you?
Do you think there might be legal repercussions from revealing that info?
uhm the concept is already well known in parts of the world as far as i know. I saw a documentary on this topic around 10 years ago with exactly the same technique but without any "first of a kind" talking... concept is good, selling it to people is nah. This container is a nightmare to handle, move and use.. the software used is far more interesting to me
Great idea. Think about doubling your grow area up top. Widen over the width of bottom pod.
I wanna know who the company was that tried to buy them out, so I can make sure NOT to spend any money with them.
We have something very simular here in Berlin for some years now. You can buy herbs produced there in regular supermarkets. The major problem is the fish food. It is certified but its still animal based and from the ocean. Innovation in this area would be cool.
There are already several solutions and they would actually create more jobs. To my mind the problem is that someone like the Gates Foundation will come along and buy all the sectors involved and gain total control through an organ like Monsanto. In my humble opinion a new world order where there are NO elite, no super rich, no all powerful people must be created and encouraged at all costs.
Oligarchs and the world's richest must be such a foreign concept and unappealing that everyone must endeavour to never be seen as being on their way to being one.
@@adnel4142 dude get a job, you spend too much time on the internet
Hi Lisa, I am from Munich and I am really interested in starting a business with food growing. The company your are talking in Berlin doing similar stuff, could give me a contact please? I contacted FarmPod but they did not contacted me back for business opportunities in Germany. I think we need to more of this business running as the future plans are not looking good. better to be prepared. Thank you Lisa & take care
Dig the concept .. but why not just get fish emulsion from a fish farm where their not so lonely .. just saying those fish looked really bored… all in a all I want to build one
or just get the nutrients for the plants from a different source altogether.
in other words, do hydroponics instead of aquaponics.
@@holleey Hydroponics requires chemicals and generates waste water.
Neither of which are sustainable forms of farming.
They showed you a brand new system definitely more fish then two required LOL
@@johnsnow5955 I'm sure there is plenty of sustainable ways to source nutrients other than from fish.
@@holleey Yes but then the issue becomes water consumption.
The main draws to Aquaponics are the finite water usage and the recirculation that eliminates waste.
You guys are missing so much... all those pesticides are used to keep up to market standards of A grade products ... if that stands would just include A and B you can't compete with normal land... A grade includes color and size , lots of things can go wrong and farmers to keep em right are forced by YOU the consumer to keep up with those... you can't notice the difference in quality from A to B if not with laboratory tests and a trained eyes,
For farmers the difference in income is about 4 times... if he doesn't produce enough A grade he just goes under... and you know what's funny.
Retailers buy A and B products mix them and sell the evening as high grade
Zero chance of seeing ROI. These videos are produced to entice VC money. Too many have tried and failed. Fifth Season,
Agrocool, AeroFarms, Glowfarms, etc.
It will work if money is no object like in space, Iceland and other food deserts.
Parking Lot Can Offer So Much。 Why Park Vehicles？
What About Parking Roof？
Multi-Layer Roof System！
Restaurant Parking。
I'm interested in this kind of set up its just that expensive in electricity, i would just do manual watering the fish poop hahah, to save electricity
Here's an idea. Design communities AROUND food production (food forests/permaculture/) and keep the focus on resource based design. The whole way cities are designed in the first place is an utter fail unless one's goal is an overstimulating, consumerist rat race. There are numerous examples on this very platform of INDIVIDUALS terraforming otherwise hostile land into verdant Edens rich with biological diversity and abundance. Imagine what a wise group of holistically minded land stewards could do. People keep turning to "tech" as the answer and yet "tech" is the reason for the problem in the first place. Humans are knowledge rich and wisdom impoverished and this is an example of a bandaid not an actual solution. Too many creative folks missing the forest for the trees nipping at branches instead of looking to solve and or redesign an utterly flawed system. It's a big job....but that's what it's going to take.
5 hours of labour/week? Oh I doubt that. Just cleaning the sponges and disassembling the grow towers takes quite some time. Then all the varieties grown in the system to harvest/mixing also takes a lot time..
the only automation I saw/can imagine in this tiny space is pH/EC, light, temperature etc. sowing machine max as well that’s it.
The food produced in hydroponics quality depends on the plants being fed the correct nutrients. Because their environment is ideal for plants, it's also ideal for pests.
There are also very toxic fish farms. In fact we have been strongly advised not to buy farmed fish.. A chap in South Africa has been selling container aquaponic farms for years.
I do believe that aquaponics is a must for the future, but this doesn't seem like a particularly great idea. I'm surprised that they didn't sell the business. I assume they weren't going to make enough profit for the time/money they invested and that's why they declined it.
What's more I don't know the prices on these, but it feels like they will be quite expensive and you would need quite a few years before you break even on your investment. At the same time anyone who isn't lazy can do everything shown here by themselves. Order a container, check few videos on solar panels(if you want solar panels that is), arduino/raspberry pi, as well as some aquaponic videos and "just do it". Nothing particularly hard and you will save A LOT of money.
What's more if it's in your garden on the side of the containers if they are free(no solar palens or other stuff) you can make a wall-mounted vegatable/flower garden on the walls to utilize that space as well. All this is nothing new and there are plenty of videos.
there are 2'700 billionares in the world
and 56'000'000 millionares in the world
and you can't get funding for your aquaponics?
Yeah, theres a good reason you were being bought out to be shut down. Thus isn't a better way to grow food. If you are constantly relying on fundraising to fund your project that doesnt have nearly enough output to offset the dollars put in, yes, you will be bought out in order to shut down. It's not a game changing idea. Respect your more local farmers and please go buy food from them. They have more to offer.
Shipping container as your space = certain noob-level designer-type pipe dreams incoming. Brace for urbanites pet stereotypes, clickbaits and biology-defying failures of logic.
You literally cannot choose worse box for anything living.
Yep. VF is not just aquaponics but hydroponics and aeroponics you're really not controlling the environment if the energy isn't sustainable nor the intent. It's a solution of course within a sustainable world that doesn't pollute.
Dude ...
I'm literally with out a single word .
And where did this magical idea come
from ??? Ever live in Maine Mike??
I'm just sayin ,great luck to ya