Environmental Resource Flow

Resources of Concern:

Pollution:

Above we have outlined the carbon producing sources of the farm, and outlined two potential sinks for these sources. Other potential solutions would be a reduction in the production.

Water pollution is also of concern; we believe that the main source of water pollution is farm runoff. About 200,000 cubic feet runoff every year and the potential for high nutrient concentrations that can affect streams is very high. To offset this we suggest bioswales or constructed wetlands would offset this.

Erosion:

Through certain mitigation techniques we can save several tons of soil per acre annually through implementation. On our 5 acre plot we could potentially be losing 70 tons of soil a year to erosion. These techniques could save us anywhere from 5 to 50 tons annually.

Plants:

Plants will be a good source for sequestering carbon, production of biodiesel, and reducing erosion. Cover crops will sequester carbon and fix nitrogen to the soil. With these additions we also would like to see a reduction in tillage and annual plants.

Education:

Currently the farm produces 500 people hours worth of education to the community; we would like to double that. This would produce a better understanding of environmental concerns in general for our community and food production in general.

Structure:

We talked about using only local sources for our structure. This would cut down on carbon emissions and boost the local economy. Our resources for the farm can easily be attained within 350 miles of the farm. We would like to see our resources for the structure be rapidly renewable, locally produced and manufactured. We would like to base our design on leed standards that aim to improve the environmental resource use.

Qualitative:

A production of more ecologically valuable spaces is our boundary. To do this we would like to increase habitat, and in general the perceived or real ecological value of the land.

Misha ManuchehriJosh GileKyle HolmanSeth Saxon?

Energy Flow Analysis

Energy Flow Analysis

Biomass

           Sources:

•http://www.acrcd.org/Portals/0/Equine%20Fact%20Sheets/Equine_C-N_Ratio.pdf •http://facops.wsu.edu/Compost/compost_production_r.asp •http://www.agry.purdue.edu/soils/Csequest.PDF •http://attra.ncat.org/energy_calculators.html •http://www.ianrpubs.unl.edu/epublic/live/g1315/build/g1315.pdf?redirected=true •http://facops.wsu.edu/Compost/compost_home.htm •http://www.groworganic.com/item_F1012_HFPC_Hydrolyzed_Fish_Powder_40_L.html?welcome=T&theses=6302526

Environmental Resource Flow

Resources of Concern:

Pollution:

Above we have outlined the carbon producing sources of the farm, and outlined two potential sinks for these sources. Other potential solutions would be a reduction in the production.

Water pollution is also of concern; we believe that the main source of water pollution is farm runoff.  About 200,000 cubic feet runoff every year and the potential for high nutrient concentrations that can affect streams is very high.  To offset this we suggest bioswales or constructed wetlands would offset this. 

Erosion:

Through certain mitigation techniques we can save several tons of soil per acre annually through implementation.  On our 5 acre plot we could potentially be losing 70 tons of soil a year to erosion.  These techniques could save us anywhere from 5 to 50 tons annually.

Plants:

Plants will be a good source for sequestering carbon, production of biodiesel, and reducing erosion.  Cover crops will sequester carbon and fix nitrogen to the soil.  With these additions we also would like to see a reduction in tillage and annual plants.

Education:

Currently the farm produces 500 people hours worth of education to the community; we would like to double that.  This would produce a better understanding of environmental concerns in general for our community and food production in general.

Structure:

We talked about using only local sources for our structure.  This would cut down on carbon emissions and boost the local economy.  Our resources for the farm can easily be attained within 350 miles of the farm.  We would like to see our resources for the structure be rapidly renewable, locally produced and manufactured.  We would like to base our design on leed standards that aim to improve the environmental resource use.

Qualitative:

A production of more ecologically valuable spaces is our boundary.  To do this we would like to increase habitat, and in general the perceived or real ecological value of the land.

Water Resource Flows

Update on Monday, November 16, 2009 at 1:53PM by Andrew Kracht

Update on Monday, November 16, 2009 at 2:01PM by Andrew Kracht

Update on Monday, November 16, 2009 at 2:06PM by Brendan Cassleman

WATER CALC.s

Our calculations for water flow were based on the current farm set up.

Inputs of water are as follows: Irrigation - 500,000 gallons*; Precipitation - 1,783,088; Compost (water content) - 8238 gallons

Outputs are as follows: Food to CSA members (water content of produce) - 2582.6 gallons; Soil Evaporation - 1,263,612 gal. ; Plant Transpiration - 1,142,330 gal.; Runoff - 105,333 gal.; Seepage - 433,628 gal.

*Notes on calculations: all calculations are pretty rough. The program used to calculate precipitation, irrigation, runoff, transpiration, evaporation, and seepage used weather data from Pomeroy which receives 17 in. rainfall compared to Pullman's roughly 20. Also the program estimated 307,860 gallons for irrigation however the farm uses 500,000 gallons annually. There is some leaks etc. which might account for some of this.

Irrigation uses roughly 500,000 gallons, roughly 300,000 are used between July-September. Irrigation generally doesn't begin until June due to precipitation and soil moisture. On the otherhand not everything is planted until June. Other figures based on seasonality can be found in the graphs section.

We went ahead and did some calculations for the water consumption of 10 residents living on the farm and concluded that they would use 73,000 gallons throughout the year. This compares to 365,000 gallons for the average ten Americans to use. These numbers were found by taking average American water consumption per person and subtracting various water saving technologies (e.g. no-water toilets, low flow showerhead, irrigation omissions <included in other sections of report>, etc.)

Update on Tuesday, December 8, 2009 at 5:03PM by Josh Van Wie

Here is an updated graph of the water balance.

Farm Economics

 

Resource Flows

Ideas on resources and their boundaries (physical and virtual) to make the oFarm go!  Visit our Flickr Page to download or interact.

Groups