Growing Azolla
Azolla, the superstar plant
Azolla is one of the fastest growing plants on the Earth. This little fern has the ability to double its mass every three days and with its symbiotic Cyrano-bacteria can fixate Nitrogen directly from the atmosphere. Azolla has been deemed a "super-plant" as it can draw down as much as a ton of nitrogen per acre per year (0.25 kg/m²/yr); this is matched by 6 tons per acre of carbon draw down (1.5 kg/m²/yr). Fifty million years ago, this plant single-handedly pulled 3000 ppm of CO2 out of the atmosphere in 800k years and is thought to be the trigger that changed the Eocene epoch climate from 'greenhouse' to the present day 'icehouse'. 'Azolla event'
Uses for Azolla
Livestock feed, space CELSS systems, bio-fertilizer, potassium enrichment, bio-fuel, nitrogen fixation, weed and mosquito control, waste water mitigation, cricket feed stock, Omega 3 source, carbon sequestration
Methods for growing year round
Heating systems utilizing geothermal resources.
Passive cooling systems
Inexpensive greenhouse designs and materials
Super food for growing crickets
Azolla is very high in Omega-3's and other nutrients which transfer to the crickets prior to harvesting.
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Good Grubs, Inc
Crickets for human consumption
Demand for crickets as a human food source has skyrocketed, with wholesale prices quoted at four times the wholesale price per pound of chicken and an exponentially growing market worth $20 million in 2014. Because of their excellent nutritional profile and ecologically sustainable growth rates, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization has identified insects as a key component in addressing the worsening global food crisis.
Profitable mass production
o meet this current and future demand, Hertz Fellows Floris van Breugel, Brian von Herzen, and their colleagues plan to build scalable technology and infrastructure for an ecologically and economically efficient cricket ranch. This collaboration leverages Floris’ experience working with insects, automation, and data analytics, and Brian’s sustainability knowledge and primary production experience, business development experience, and geothermal property at the Panorama Ranch near Lake Tahoe.