Author
Listed:
- Francisco Albornoz
(Centro UC Desierto de Atacama, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 8331150, Chile
Departamento de Ciencias Vegetales, Facultad de Agronomía y Sistemas Naturales, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 8331150, Chile)
- Camilo del Río
(Centro UC Desierto de Atacama, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 8331150, Chile
Instituto de Geografía, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 8331150, Chile)
- Virginia Carter
(Centro UC Desierto de Atacama, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 8331150, Chile
Instituto de Geografía, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 8331150, Chile)
- Rodrigo Escobar
(Centro UC Desierto de Atacama, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 8331150, Chile
Facultad de Ingeniería, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 8331150, Chile)
- Lucas Vásquez
(Facultad de Arquitectura, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 8331150, Chile)
Abstract
Agricultural production in the Atacama Desert is restricted by extreme aridity and poor soil quality. Between 18° S and 30° S, low stratocumulus clouds regularly cover the southeastern Pacific Ocean reaching the Coastal Cordillera. Thus, marine fog is constantly present in the coastal areas of the desert. Fog can be harvested using fog collectors. However, limited information is available with regards to the variability of fog presence throughout the year and along the coast of the desert. Combining fog water harvest with hydroponic production under greenhouse facilities presents an alternative for sustainable and local fresh food production. In this article, we analyze the potential of fog water collection in two sites (Alto Patache and Falda Verde) distant by about 1000 km within the Atacama Desert. Additionally, in both locations, the environmental conditions within greenhouse structures, the potential energy requirement for environmental conditioning (including the energy production from photovoltaic panels) and the water requirements of vegetable crops under greenhouse conditions were modeled. The annual average of fog water collection registered was 2.9 and 3.3 L per day per m 2 in Alto Patache and Falda Verde, respectively. During the most demanding season for crop evapotranspiration, 2.13 m 2 of fog collectors can supply the water required for 1 m 2 of greenhouse crops. The energy required for water and air pumps in the hydroponic systems can be supplied with photovoltaic systems including eight PV modules and a battery storage capacity of 9.4 kWh. In conclusion, the present study sheds light on the possibilities of massive water collection from fog to be used in local and sustainable food production in the Atacama Desert.
Suggested Citation
Francisco Albornoz & Camilo del Río & Virginia Carter & Rodrigo Escobar & Lucas Vásquez, 2023.
"Fog Water Collection for Local Greenhouse Vegetable Production in the Atacama Desert,"
Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-15, November.
Handle:
RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:22:p:15720-:d:1275941
Download full text from publisher
Most related items
These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
Corrections
All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:22:p:15720-:d:1275941. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.
If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.
If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .
If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.
For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .
Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through
the various RePEc services.