mastodon.social is one of the many independent Mastodon servers you can use to participate in the fediverse.
The original server operated by the Mastodon gGmbH non-profit

Administered by:

Server stats:

380K
active users

this is incredible. Hanging solar panels a few meters above crops of tomatoes and jalapeños multiplied their yield 2-3x, used substantially less water, controlled temperatures, and increased the output of the solar panels pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2301 #science #solar #environment #agriculture

@kellogh
Part 1:

Wow.

Solution to the using for :

"Properly designed solar installations can increase food , reduce the need for , revive dying lakes, rescue , restore + cool overheated humans—all while producing more power than conventional solar arrays."

"In 1982, researchers @ the for Solar Energy (ISE) in Germany proposed a... solution..."

pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2301

@KLB @HistoPol @kellogh

We are woefully behind in all areas of solar. What sell here? House panels that are marked up substantially. Just make money, and while they help, they aren't solving the bigger issue.

@Sfwmson @HistoPol @kellogh we still expect individuals to do the heavy lifting (like with recycling), when the problem area is farther upstream.

HistoPol (#HP) 🏴 🇺🇸 🏴

Part 2: :

(1/8)
Combining the new solar-panel-above fields method* with ancient raised-field could facilitate and management, raise yields, reduce concentration, and reduce .

The solution to our current problems in many areas might have been with us for 2,300 years at least, probably first developed by the culture of the ...

*See previous toot (Part 1)

(2/8)

...highlands of + .
Raised-field agriculture has also been used in countries like , + .

also stems + creates a cooling (+warming during the night) when combined w/ the , similar to the created by the Muslims, e.g. in the in . In combination with the solar panels. Jointly with the building of type , might even be extended to years..

(3/8)
...without rainfall for some time.

I am not an engineer, but it seems quite logic that the reflective capabilities of the
will also protect the organic from by rain, sun, and to some degree, wind.

After some interest in the 1960’s through 1980s and early 2000’s, a 2019 Master thesis from with the chief aim of and management takes aim to solve South American cities’ recurring problems using :

politesi.polimi.it/handle/1058.

(4/8)

Whereas (also called in ) was developed for mountain , the author Beatrice Salinetti, like me, seems to see an application for many arid regions on all continents.

[TO BE CONTINUED in (5/8):
mastodon.social/@HistoPol/1100]

Other Sources:

abovetopsecret.com/forum/threa (nice intro into )

smithsonianmag.com/history/far (she incorrectly attributes the technology to the conquering , who were but a small pastoral tribe until the 12th century)...

Part 3: and

(1/15)

I did not want to provide another installment today, but I just came across this older boost of mine about special weather conditions on the , that leads to recurrent called Atmospheric Rivers (AR).

mastodon.social/@UncensoredNew

Now, I am not a , but we know from Part 2 that the ancient Andean people had recurring over-abundant rainfall issues, too (El Niño events).

(2/15)

...Furthermore, e.g. Italy has been the target of similar events in recent decades.

And the season in Asia has been a phenomenon for thousands of years.

Fun fact: did you know that there was a monsoon in the , too?

So, we can safely assume that building -Type cisterns or other huge water basins and the like will be an issue for many countries around the globe in the decades to come.

I read an article about about repurposing dried-out fields in for this..

(3/15)

...draining rain water into , but I can't find it anymore for the time being.

However, I found an up-to-date-article here, which focuses more on the than on the construction aspects:

"Over the past decade, ’s experiments with submerging small plots have suggested 👉intentional can replenish aquifers without damaging either quality or crops"👈

It is based on a law enacted in 2014:

" adopted a landmark law,...

(4/15)

...the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (), that promotes the practice. It requires farmers to treat aquifers like bank accounts, clamping down on overdrafts but also allowing those who deposit water into them to make bigger withdrawals later."

It is a very interesting proposition and in combination with new (solar panels, where feasible) and re-discovered () farming technologies, more arable land should remain for this century...

science.org/content/article/ca

www.science.orgCan California’s floods help recharge depleted groundwater supplies?Plans to drown orchards and farm fields to boost aquifers get off to a slow start

(5/15)

As I have learned from this video about "Culturas hidráulicas de "* and the "", the latest research dates the raised-field technology in even earlier, to 850 to 1,000 BCE.

Furthermore, this technology was in use in many more regions of .

*
youtube.com/watch?v=DnMUnTYhuzo

In the language of the conquering tribe, , the term is . However, using the term in...

(6/15)

...the language of the descendants of the (probable) inventors, the culture, , it is .

How is this relevant? - Helps to find new sources. ;)

What is more, and what I learned from this website is that there were also different systems, apart from the .

For example, the "chacras hundidas" (Northern ) or the "producción en andenes" (all of Peru), as Ronald Ancajima of GSASUAGA, states here:

hidraulicainca.com/puno/waru-w

Hidráulica Inca · Waru Waru – PunoHace unos años, 1997, nuestro genial amigo Rodolfo Muñante, como ministro de agricultura, programó un colosal trabajo en el altiplano de Puno, su idea era hacer de esta hermosa meseta una despensa …

(7/15)

[Footnote I of V:
10th in on 03/11/2023:]

"This marks the state’s 10th atmospheric river *this winter*.”

style prevention and are decades overdue.

"In the..., pre- cultures developed nature-based harvesting technologies to manage and risks under natural climatic extremes.
These technologies have gained renewed attention as a..."

youtu.be/vsp1yrkCHsw​

(8/15)

[Footnote II of V:
10th in on 03/11/2023:]

"...potential strategy to increase ...

The technology is a combination of of marginal , improvement, , optimal utilization of available radiant energy, and attenuation of the effects of . The main feature of this system is the construction of a network of and ."

Take a look of the cartographed events in ...

(9/15)

[Footnote III of IV:
10th in on 03/11/2023:]

...comparison to atmospheric river events is brutally obvious....

Source:
Waru Waru: the new pueblo
Flood attenuation system for Latin-American cities

Master Thesis by
Beatrice Salinetti
Milan, Italy, 2019

academia.edu/90681352/Waru_War

www.academia.eduWaru-Waru : the new pueblo. Floods attenuation system for latin american citiesWaru-Waru : the new pueblo. Floods attenuation system for latin american cities

(11/15)

[Footnote V of V: 10th in on 03/11/2023:]

And in case you were wondering how the were doing while has been experiencing all these floods due to Atmospheric River events, here is the answer:

Many California reservoirs are still below their historical levels.

/END Footnotes

(continues in 12/15)

@tadbithuman

Thanks for the comprehensive reboosts of this important subject. :)

I have added you to the list.

(5/8)

[Other sources continued:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waru_Waru]

Further good news from the world of :

:

"..putting agriculture under solar installations—is a good way to maximize land use. It also makes the *last longer*...
Solar panels mounted 4 meters above a crop were connected to temperature reductions of up to *10* degrees Celsius, the study found, compared to..."

fastcompany.com/90861486/agriv

en.wikipedia.orgWaru Waru - Wikipedia

(6/8)

"... mounted half a meter above bare soil...
higher temperatures can decrease the lifetime and
"...efficiency of .

Cooling mechanisms:

-
-plants reflect less solar radiation than the bare soil
- panel higher above ground...better air circulation

"There are a lot more questions to answer about the relationship between solar energy and (how to more effectively plant, grow, and those crops...

(7/8)

"...underneath panels is a major one). This research is only the beginning."

Max is a professor of mechanical engineering at ".

Imagine the enormous additional cooling effects putting canals below the panels in !

fastcompany.com/90861486/agriv

(8/8)

If you like to have a more animated view of the technology, I have discovered this nice video which focuses on the intricacies of the canals in .

youtube.com/watch?v=gxeVweYYi4c

[Continued in Part 3: and , applying it to other geographic regions than the highlands]

mastodon.social/@HistoPol/1099

@HistoPol Just love the comment one did on the abovesecret site: "Minecraft"! 😂

@ar1

Which comment exactly?--It's been almost a year since I've written this.

@HistoPol I was referring to the comment section of the "abovesecret" site, not here on Mastodon. And as you might have noticed, I am returning to this thread albeit it being a year old from time to time to refresh my knowledge. Thank you for posting it then and there!

@ar1

Minecraft--the video game? (See below--I haven't played it, though.)

Yes, the subject of is interesting and keeps evolving.

A discussion convo has ensued in German about a novelty: bifacial built like fences:

mastodon.social/@ZamhoidnLA/11

You should be able to read it using apps with a built-in translation function, and most people will understand English if you'd like to comment.

@ChrisBoese

very welcome. :)
I find building common-interest groups hard on .

@HistoPol @KLB @kellogh Wow. I have been along-standing admirer of the andean ayllu-concept (similar to ubuntu in S.-Africa, Allmende in German), but wasn’t aware of this concept. Bringing water to fields in a fair way through elaborate falaj systems has been task of one particular tribe in Oman, but putting the agriculture on higher levels is unique. Thank you for this eye opener!

@ar1
I have long been aware of the Andean tradition, having been greatly impressed*, but had forgotten about it for decades. Then, I read that article about , and it came back to me. Thus, I began to research.

The more I read and posted, the more convinced I became that the combination could prove to be the next agricultural revolution 4 all regions with sufficient annual precipitation, e.g., w/ or .

*IMO, there's a anti-frost component

@KLB @kellogh

@HistoPol @BlumeEvolution falls noch nicht bekannt, in diesem Thread sind auch einige Ideen für Wassermanagement.

@HistoPol Very interesting, never heard about this before! 👍

@madeindex

How humanity might have escaped the

IMO,
humanity should have been implementing and raised-field agriculture, style, including huge and systems in all regions bound to have or experiencing "monsoon type" rainfall for decades.
The necessary construction would dwarf anything in human history.
We are about 3-4 decades late.

mastodon.social/@HistoPol/1099