Appropriate Technology

[Lawrence London <lfljvenaura AT gmail.com>]

Lawrence London
lfljvenaura AT gmail.com

On Fri, Nov 11, 2011 at 3:40 PM,  <yelenickj AT riseup.net> wrote:
> cool... any scalar ideas from y'all ?
>
>
> http://e360.yale.edu/digest/irrigation_device_pulls_water_from_the_air_in_driest_conditions/3206/

You may have heard of the low tech systems used in the deserts of the
Middle East to refrigerate food,
even make ice. Containers are placed on the shady side of hills,
dunes, berms - contents get cold overnight
- need to Google this for more exact details

Scaled systems seem appropriate for a site with installed or
to-be-installed systems that are integrated and diverse,
i.e. locate food producing gardens there not in an isolated location
So, how about building, on such a site and stacking functions, berms
that have water condensing coils and storage tanks
buried in them high on their slopes so to provide gravity fed
irrigation to the gardens below. Positioning the collector or wind
turbine powering the air pump at a higher elevation might result in
increased airflow and unobstructed sunlight and locating the
condensing unit underground on the shady side of the berm would reduce
the amount of coil needed.
You are talking about a single large condensation and storage system
powered by a sized array of wind or air collectors and
air pumps. This system would be sized to the amount of garden space to
be irrigated.

Someone in another forum (YouTube comments) suggested using thin film
photovoltaic material attached to the blades of a
short wide wind turbine rotor to  power the unit. Of course,
biointensive, mulch-OM-humus-intensive gardening will provide greater
soil water holding capacity, tilth and permeability allowing greater
water infiltration and underground dispersion.