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So we know that Japan doesn't have enough food, what do we know about it's capacity to produce food? i assume it rains enough there, but there are alot of people in Japan in 2020. is Japan importing drinking water as well as food? i'm really asking this because i don't live in Tokyo and i don't know, but we should be conscious that a localized urban farming infrastructure in Tokyo might require a supporting localized sustainable water infrastructure. i know there's alot of new moisture collection and water purification technology out there but which would be the best for a huge crowded city like Tokyo?

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Comment by Jeremy Cohn on March 4, 2010 at 8:08am
Clearly as cities continue to grow and populations boom there is going to be a greater need for water. First of all developing rain water capture systems on the tops of buildings would be necessary (and fairly simple), simple hoses (like power lines) could connect buildings and direct the water to the growing sites.

Of course this is reliant on rain water which might not always be available. So secondly is it necessary to find ways to recycle waste water. There are a variety of filters that use iodine, mechanical systems (see lifestraw), or other systems to purify drinking water in eco-conscious homes, refugee camps, or military bases. Some use gravity, mechanical energy, or chemicals to get the job done. In this way it could be possible to reuse shower water, faucet waste water, used cooking water, etc to go to food growing purposes.

Even that may not provide all of the water needed if the population grows too much and the shortage of food is too great. Even so people have developed cheaper and more accessible desalinization processes (see silver pot, solar watercones), of course larger scale plants would be necessary, but I think the technology is there (especially in ten years) that a city by the ocean should be able to get the water it needs. However the cost of desalinization on a large scale could be extremely expensive.
Comment by Cian Gregory Accuardi Shelley on March 4, 2010 at 3:34pm
i had a similar idea about rain collection for big buildings. so what about greenspace? i looked up a map of the city and there are quite a few parks (the imperial palace grounds being the largest) i'm assuming more than just farming in the parks would be necessary to make Tokyo food secure, but the parks may be necessary as well. so what do we do about that. what farming style befits a park in tokyo best with the least effect on it's function as a place of beauty and as a place where people want to go on walks while still making it a useful part of the food security grid.
i say this because i have a farm in my yard but i don't use the yard for anything else, i don't think straight rows of fava beans would do well in the imperial gardens but something will. any ideas?
Comment by Jeremy Cohn on March 4, 2010 at 6:05pm
I would assume rooftop gardens would be the way to go. Encourage businesses to rent out their roof-space to urban farmers. A quick glance at Tokyo on google maps shows thousands of flat roof-tops that are empty and going to waste. If food prices started going up people could grow small window-sill gardens for vegetables.

I think a lot of people think buildings specializing in farming would be the way to go, that way you can centralize the water infrastructure and distribution (http://www.verticalfarm.com/).
Comment by Cian Gregory Accuardi Shelley on March 4, 2010 at 6:58pm
for sure, but the conversion of existing buildings should be the first priority as well as a rain capture system to save energy because it would take a lot to pump all that extra water up.
Comment by Jeremy Cohn on March 4, 2010 at 9:32pm
If you can establish completely closed water systems every several floors (realistically probably 10 floors or more) that recycle the water then you reduce the need to add additional water into the system.

The important part is making sure that you don't waste the gravitational potential of the water each time it moves down a building. Even microturbines to produce electricity, for pumping, when water goes down the drain could help with pumping energy. If you took all the water from a floor and ran it through a single small turbine I'm sure it could help save energy. The only question is if that will be a cost effective solution.

Alternatively, would it be possible to develop a piping system that used sun heat to evaporate the water and then blow it up several stories? If it were possible to develop a passive system for this then that would be best.
Comment by Cian Gregory Accuardi Shelley on March 4, 2010 at 11:25pm
i like the idea of the little turbines. i wonder if that's been tried yet. there should be a simpler way though. and the most important thing in this case is food. while energy efficiency is important, Japan isn't having a power crisis. i wish i knew more about the existing buildings in japan.

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