Desert
The coastal plains of Almeria house the largest concentration of greenhouses in the world, some 40,000 hectares, that grow about half of Europe’s produce. The plastic revolution of agriculture in Almeria has affected what we eat, the climate, water supplies and the local ecology. To minimize this impact, Montemero works together with farmers to develop more efficient and sustainable farming technology- like evaporation control devices, recycled plastic and mycelium seed trays and other biodegradable supplies. These technologies are tested on site in the Agriculture Lab alongside an agroecology agriculture approach, continue to find out more about our innovations..
Evaporation Mitigation Device
Agriculture, Plastic, Desert
2018
In southern Spain agriculture uses consume over 80% of available fresh water. Whats left is vulnerable to a15% loss due to evaporation in the semi-arid region. The effects of climate change bring reality to water scarcity and the authority it plays over the regions prosperity for the future. Evaporation Mitigation Devices were designed to preserve this valuable resource, water. The floating, hexagonal pieces form a barrier against the sun and take the shape of any water reservoir.
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In an effort to introduce circularity to the region while limiting environmental waste, we proposed an agriculture waste management scheme, enabling farmers to recycle their spent agiplastic into new products- like EMDs. The resource saving devices are made 100% of recycled agriplastic. Collection pic
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A series of EMDs were formed and tested at our lab. We can report that they have shown an evaporation savings of 90% during the peak months of July, August and September. More notably, reducing algae growths by an average of 95% and therefore eliminate the need of toxic ——- , often illegally dumped into reservoirs to prevent algae growth. These findings are the first of their kind and emphasise a REAL NEED for more research in this field for the region.
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We have developed relations with a local agriplastic recycling facility, Green World Compounding, who is responsible for transforming large quantities of waste to a leach free composite.
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The clean composite can be used to produce the floating devices, a successful first for our partners Hexacover. With a lifespan of 20+ years, this technology can be applied and easily forgotten while its benefits are collected by the farmer and the environment for years to come.
Seedtrays
Agriculture, Plastic, Desert
2018
These are the polystyrene trays that propagate young sprouts before planting. The trays are ubiquitous in agriculture and unfortunately, the environment, as strong winds and rain often carry them away. Polystyrene plastic is very difficult to recycle and once heavily soiled will likely reach its grave. We have developed several seed tray concepts to help resolve this concern.
