Author : Dane S. Silcox
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 174 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (866 download)
Book Synopsis Aquaponics as Sustainable Urban Business Model by : Dane S. Silcox
Download or read book Aquaponics as Sustainable Urban Business Model written by Dane S. Silcox and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 174 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The examination of Aquaponics as an urban business model is an analysis of alternative means of producing food in a world facing many sustainability related issues. The planet's population has exponentially grown over the last 60 years from roughly 2.5 billion people in 1950 to just over 7.0 billion people today and is expected to reach 9.0 billion people by 2050. It is expected that the people of the Earth will need 50% more food and 30% more clean water in the next 30 years despite over feeding a billion and underfeeding a billion people (Beddington, 2009). The current Earth has depleted soil, mineral and water resources and is running out of inexpensive energy sources (Brown, 2012). This examination explores the option of using technology coupled with an understanding of natural systems to create a food system that can produce both protein and vegetable produce while limiting water use and eliminating the use of soil and other natural resources. The very nature of this system provides answers to some of our urban social ills, remediation of depleted environmental resources and a profitable and sustainable means of producing food for the long term. The use of recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) as a system to grow fish intensively, coupled with hydroponics to grow organic produce and serve as the system bio-filter, also known as Aquaponics is ecoming more prevalent. This system has the advantage of being located anywhere, including regions with little water and on small parcels of land either indoors or outdoors. This characteristic serves the unique advantage of allowing this system to be located near or in a city, putting its products in close proximity to its market for consumption. The ability to grow food intensively on a small amount of land in the market area allows the organization to keep the cost of marketing and distribution at lower levels than organizations with rural or international locations and distant markets. The system has the advantage of recycling water, limiting the need for additional water, and using that water as fertilizer to grow high value products. Wastes can be eliminated or mitigated and turned into value-added products that can be sold to a growing market while maintaining a low cost intensive fish and organic produce manufacturing facility. The advantages of this model offer not only the opportunity for a profitable business model but for a model that can be beneficial to the community it serves. Locating food producing businesses within the market they serve has the dual benefit of improving that community's resiliency against increasing food costs brought on by higher environmental, failing farm lands and transportation as well as providing economic development benefits to the community. This thesis examined recirculating aquaculture systems coupled with hydroponics to determine their use as a viable business model in an urban context. The method of analysis included a review of available literature, an online survey and phone interviews of organizations that have employed aquaculture and a complete financial analysis of aquaponics as a commercial application. The results demonstrate that the solution is viable from the perspective that it is possible to utilize these systems to grow fish and produce sustainably. However, survey results were limited by the size of the sample and the quality of the data collected. Essentially the size of the response limited the ability to conclude sustainable economic viability. The financial analysis did demonstrate that these systems can be financially viable if well managed. However, the systems can fail economically if solutions to energy and feed problems are not found. Ultimately, aquaponics will be among the food system solution set. The upside potential of the system from an environmental resource and geographic standpoint demonstrate promise where current systems are still depleting earth resources. Finding sustainable solutions to these problems is an imperative that must be met for the future and aquaponics does solve many of these issues.
