A team of engineers is testing the practicality of growing food crops in small, inflatable greenhouses in the ocean. They have anchored seven transparent plastic biospheres in the Bay of Noli at Savona, Italy, and are experimenting with a variety of plants in a hydroponic growing system, says Motherboard, a website that focuses on the future. Luca Gamberini, the marketing manager for the project, which is called Nemo’s Garden, says the temperature of ocean water is far more stable than air temperatures in fields. The bottom of each biosphere is open, somewhat like an aquarium that is upside down. When saltwater at the bottom of the biosphere evaporates, it condenses on the sidewalls and ceiling to form freshwater for the plants.
The company behind Nemo’s Garden, Ocean Reef Group, says the biospheres remove the risk of plant pests and diseases so there is no need for pesticides. The company says it hopes this year to “draw the line on feasibility, industrialization, and large scale production to really give an alternative solution to grow food in a responsible, small-footprint-on-earth kind of way.”