Solar Powered Space Yacht

A rocket carrying the Ikaros -- an acronym for Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation of the Sun -- will blast off from the Tanegashima space centre in southern Japan on May 18.

"Ikaros is a 'space yacht' that gets propulsion from the pressure of sunlight particles bouncing off its sail," Yuichi Tsuda, space systems expert at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), told journalists.

The flexible sails, which are thinner than a human hair, are also equipped with thin-film solar cells to generate electricity to create "a hybrid technology of electricity and pressure", Tsuda said.

"Solar sails are the technology that realises space travel without fuel as long as we have sunlight. The availability of electricity would enable us to navigate farther and more effectively in the solar system."

Ikaros, which has cost 1.5 billion yen (16 million dollars) to develop, will be the first use of the technology in deep space, as past experiments have been limited to unfolding its sails in orbits around the Earth, said Tsuda.

JAXA plans to control the path of Ikaros by changing the angle at which sunlight particles bounce off the silver-coloured sail.

Ikaros will be a short cylindrical shape when it is released into space and will then extend its 14-metre (46 foot) sail, JAXA said.

The name of the spacecraft alludes to Icarus, the figure from Greek mythology who flew too close to the sun and fell into the sea, but Tsuda promised that "this Ikaros will not fly into the sun".

The same rocket will also launch Japan's first satellite bound for Venus, called the Akatsuki, or PLANET-C, which will work closely with Venus Express, a satellite sent earlier by the European Space Agency.

In coming years, JAXA may launch other bold projects.

An expert panel to the government has proposed Japan send a wheeled robot to the moon in five years and build the world's first lunar base by 2020, a Strategic Headquarters for Space Policy official said Tuesday.

Under the plan, the robot's tasks would include setting up an observation device, gathering geological samples and sending data back to Earth. The robot would also set up solar panels to generate energy, the official said.

The expert panel initially considered sending a two-legged humanoid but judged a "rover-type" robot more practical. "It is still difficult for a biped robot to walk on a bumpy surface, even on Earth," the official said.

The team also envisions building the world's first station on the moon by about 2020, which would be staffed by advanced wheeled robots, he said.

The group estimates the unmanned mission would cost Japan 200 billion yen (two billion dollars) over the next 10 years.

The 20-member team -- made up of experts from JAXA as well as business and academia -- advises Transport Minister Seiji Maehara.

It plans to submit a report to Maehara, the minister in charge of space exploration, by late June, which would be discussed at the Strategic Headquarters for Space Policy, chaired by Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.


(c) 2010 AFP


http://www.physorg.com/news191565225.html

50 Green Apps for Earth Day's 40th

By Coupon Sherpa, couponsherpa.com McClatchy-Tribune

The first Earth Day was celebrated in 1970, when being earth friendly meant wearing earth shoes and eating brown bread. Granted, Americans were focused on other things, like the Kent State shootings, Apollo 13, the invention of fiber optics and the Beatles' last album.

Forty years later, the Pope is promoting environmentalism as a pathway to peace. Words like "biodegradable," "ecosphere" and "ozone" have entered our common lexicon. Recycling has come to our curbs and eating locally grown food is trendier than Chinese-character tattoos.

The problem with living an eco-intelligent lifestyle, however, is there's so much to consider and remember. Thanks to green iPhone apps, all this information and much, much, much more is now available at your fingertips. Green apps are sprouting up faster than, well, sprouts.

In honor of Earth Day's big birthday, here are 50 eco-friendly apps, all found in the iTunes app store, for shopping, travel, transportation, eating out and much more.

Shopper

1. Animal-Free -- Free

Animal-Free is a pocket reference guide for many common and hidden animal ingredients. Whether you're vegan, vegetarian, part-time veg or simply trying to shop veg-friendly, this app by Symbiotic Software will help you make conscientious shopping decisions. New vegans will appreciate the list of commonly misunderstood or unfamiliar vegan ingredients that will help expand your dietary horizons.

2. CouponSherpa -- Free

Ditch the pounds of coupon pages cluttering your refrigerator and wallet. This mountain-climbing superhero provides hundreds of in-store mobile coupons to streamline your savings. CouponSherpa gives you access to the hottest deals on clothing, shoes, restaurants, electronics, travel, jewelry, sporting goods, books and more.

3. CraigsMobileList -- 99 cents

Is there anything greener than CraigsList? Yep, CraigsMobileList allows you to search, browse, post and respond to ads on your iPhone. You also can track items you need, are donating or selling. Version 2.0 is a complete overhaul of the original, including a groundbreaking housing-search interface.

4. Cruelty Free -- Free

This handy shopping app is your guide to cruelty-free cosmetics, personal care and household products. Created by the Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics, Cruelty Free lists more than 200 U.S. and Canadian companies that don't test ingredients, formulations or finished products on animals.

5. FindGreen -- Free

Search more than 56,000 green and sustainable businesses to make everyday choices that will reduce your environmental impact. FindGreen finds everything from yoga centers to bicycle shops to organic restaurants near you.

6. Go Organic! -- Free

This app from the Organic Trade Association, Earth Day Network and Music Matters allows you to enter your ZIP code to find stores near you that provide free coupon books for organic products and foods. Go Organic! also provides a listing of Earth Day events in your neighborhood.

7. Gorgeously Green Survival Guide -- 99 cents

The Gorgeously Green Survival Guide is a quick reference for busy women. Developed by bestselling author Sophie Uliano, Gorgeously Green guides you through the confusion of shopping for eco-friendly choices. One of the best features is the ability to create convenient and helpful shopping lists for everything from lipstick to light bulbs.

8. Greenpeace Tissue Guide -- Free

The Greenpeace Tissue Guide allows you to make informed decision when shopping for recycled tissue and toilet paper. Experts have rated more than 100 brands as "recommended," "could do better" and "avoid!"

9. Harvest -- Select the Best Produce -- $1.99

Harvest helps you skip packaged and processed foods with information on selecting the freshest, ripest, healthiest and best-tasting produce. Now you can knock on watermelons, smell pineapples and squeeze avocados with knowledgeable elan.

10. iLocavore -- Free

Localistas have their very own iPhone app for updated news and blog posts on local-oriented and even city-specific events and products. iLocavore sends notifications of local farmers' market, gardening tips and community garden volunteering opportunities, and has a guide to vendors that carry local foods. A handy new feature displays the mileage of an item in relation to your location.

11. Locavore -- $2.99

Eat foods grown and raised locally without spending hours Googling data for tonight's meal. Locavore provides government and NGO data by state. Click on the food item for Wikipedia info and Epicurious recipes. There's no market-finder feature for in-season foods, but it sure beats printing lengthy lists of locally grown foods.

12. Soleil Organics -- 99 cents

Now here's a handy little app. Soleil Organics tells you when you should splurge on organics and when it's not worth the extra expenditure. This app also helps you unravel label terms to make informed decisions.

13. TheGoodGuide -- Free

GoodGuide helps you find safe, healthy and sustainable products while you shop. Simply scan the product's barcode to view detailed ratings for the health, environment and social responsibility of more than 65,000 products and companies.

Transportation

14. CarCare -- $4.99

CarCare automatically calculates your gas mileage at the pump and reminds you when it's time to change the oil, rotate tires, get a wax or any other service you desire.

15. Carticipate -- Free

Hook up to a social network of folks who want to share rides. Just plug in your destination and Carticipate finds others in your social network headed in the same direction. You can hitch a ride or share your own vehicle.

16. GasBag -- Basic version Free; Pro version 99 cents

GasBag relies on a community of hundreds of thousands of users submitting prices across the U.S., U.K. and Australia, with price updates delivered to your phone in real-time. You also can track your car's mileage and record details of gas purchases.

17. Green Gas Saver -- Free

Green Gas Saver tells you when you're accelerating or taking a turn too fast, which can hinder your gas mileage. The idea behind the app is to keep the ball in the center of the screen. When you accelerate too quickly, the diameter of the ball increases and an alarm will sound, indicating you're accelerating too quickly. Green Gas also keeps a running score so you can see how well you're driving in real time. A few weeks with this app and driving efficiently will become ingrained.

18. Greenmeter -- $5.99

Greenmeter by Cleantechnica tracks your car's carbon footprint and fuel efficiency while calculating weather conditions, cost of fuel and vehicle weight. You also can measure drag coefficient, vehicle pitch and rolling resistance with estimates available at CleanTechnica.com.

19. iGas -- $2.99

Tired of overpaying for gas or diesel? Get the cheapest price available every time you fill up with iGasUp. You'll gain access to the world's most accurate repository of U.S. retail for less than the price of a gallon of gas.

20. iTrans -- $3.99

iTrans calculates the fastest route between stations and gives you a step-by-step guide. It even works when you're offline and underground. A search function, maps and advisories help make your commute less of a grind. Schedules include NYC, DC, NJT, CTA, Metra, PATH, LA Metro and Metrolink.

21. OffMaps -- $1.99

Felix Lamouroux's app allows you to access maps and location bookmarks wherever you are, even outside the U.S. OffMaps stores maps directly on your device for all U.S. counties and lets you search the map offline.

22. RepairPal -- Free

Whether it's an auto emergency, a roadside breakdown or just a minor problem with your vehicle, RepairPal ensures you're prepared 24/7 for any emergency. RepairPal also provides accurate repair estimates; locates the nearest tow truck with one-touch roadside assistance; and helps you find the closest, quality repair shop.

23. TheNextTrain -- $4.99

Never again search complicated schedules only to find outdated timetables and miss your train. TheNextTrain allows you to check full train-schedule details for 18 agencies, including BART, Capitol Corridor, Caltrain, DC Metro and more. Interactive maps also make finding stops a snap.

24. Traffic -- $1.99

Based on your current location, or any other location you configure, this app will retrieve the current traffic conditions and incidents in the area. Traffic then overlays them on a map or displays them in a customized listing. Each traffic item contains detailed information about the incident and can be plotted on the apps' map so you know exactly where the problem originates.

25. Twavel -- $1.99

Twavel isn't just for wascally wabbits. It calculates the CO2 emissions associated with your travel choices and allows friends to compare their travel footprints.

Dining out/Dining in

26. FoodMenus -- 99 cents

FoodMenus is a searchable, location-based database of over 100,000 menus from restaurants across the U.S. that helps you make smart eating choices before you hit a restaurant or order take-out. You also can save your favorite menus for offline use and share them with friends.

27. Green Sushi Selector -- 99 cents

Green Sushi Selector allows you to research whether the sushi fish you're about to buy comes from threatened species or has been caught or farmed in ways harmful to the environment. Fish are listed both by their Japanese and common-market names. Additional features include health alerts for mercury and PCBs, as well as dietary recommendations.

28. Seafood Watch -- Free

It's remarkable how little we know and are told about the seafood we eat. Seafood Watch, from the Monterey Bay Aquarium, is a searchable guide to the quality and origination point of seafood at grocery stores and restaurants.

29. VegOut -- $2.99

Vegetarian offerings in many restaurants are often limited and boring. VegOut makes life a bit easier with the world's largest international listing of vegan, vegetarian and vegetarian-friendly restaurants. Search listings by your exact location or a customized location when on the road.

Travel/outdoors

30. Drinking Water -- 99 cents

Ditch bottled water while visiting Rome with Drinking Water, which maps out the position of more than 200 drinkable fountains.

31. Geocaching Toolkit -- Free

Geocaching, the green outdoors game of hiding and seeking treasures, has caught on throughout the world. Geocaching Toolkit guides players between locations with clues involving puzzles, calculations and projecting a new waypoint using distances and bearings. Sometimes the calculations are easy, but this toolkit can help when calculations become tedious.

32. iLocate -- 99 cents

iLocate is a comprehensive searchable database of national and local parks, beaches, theme parks and amusement parks throughout the U.S. You'll find contact directions and details on each park.

33. Lonely Planet Travel Guides -- Prices begin at 99 cents

Lonely Planet Travel Guides are the guide of choice for many frugal and green travelers. Various apps provide paperless guides for both U.S. and international destinations. Some of the guides are buggy and need work, but Lonely Planet is working on updated versions. Tip: Read the reviews before buying.

34. Peterson Field Guide to Backyard Birds -- $2.99

The final word in bird guides comes to iPhone in a bigger and better format. The Peterson Field Guide to Backyard Birds allows you to view bird images, listen to recorded bird songs and calls, run a filtered search by species for your geographic area, and more. All information is taken from the latest edition of the best-selling Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America.

35. TrackMyTour -- Free

TrackMyTour is the social travel journal for those on the move. Whether biking, hiking, sailing or just traveling, this app allows you to keep your friends and family updated so they can share your adventures.

36. Trails -- $2.99

The Trails GPS app allows you to record, import and export trails onto your iPhone. You can record maps while hiking, on bike trips or while jogging. Trails also allows you to geotag and geocode non-iPhone photos or share your track with others via Google Earth.

37. TrailBehind -- 99 cents

Search for hikes, bike trails, campgrounds and other outdoor adventures. TrailBehind includes offline apps, geotagged photos and a filter to provide you with the information you need.

38. Treeld -- $3.99

The English countryside is infamous for its lush scenery, including fauna unique to the U.K. Treeld is your on-the-go reference to these beautiful trees. Drill-down menus allow you to type trees you'll find in the open countryside and woodlands of the British Isles.

39. Trees -- 99 cents

Trees is a convenient and affordable way to identify North American trees wherever you hike, camp or drive.

40. Whale Song Project -- $1.99

Hear the songs of Hawaii's famed Kihei Harbor whales and view photographs that rotate in the background of your main screen. Purchases of Whale Song Project help support the non-profit's work inspiring stewardship of the ocean and environment by providing meaningful connections to the world's undersea community.

41. Wildflowers -- 99 cents

As with the tree apps, Wildflowers allows you to type wildflowers while on the trail. Based on the North Woods Field Guides, this app is filled with 68 beautifully drawn, North American wildflowers.

Miscellaneous

42. BraveNewFilms -- Free

Find and access the latest, hard-hitting videos on social and economic issues. From exposing abusive health insurance companies to combating unregulated Wall Street greed, the videos on BraveNewFilms inform, challenge and recommend opportunities to take action.

43. Discovery Channel -- Free

You'll get daily news stories, quizzes, photos and TV schedules delivered directly to your iPhone. You also can watch your favorite shows, including Mythbusters, Shark Week, Man vs. Wild and more. The Discovery Channel app will ignite your curiosity, immerse you in the how and why, and satisfy your craving for the latest information.

44. Get Green -- 99 cents

Get Green, from Candied Apple, provides you with daily ammunition in the battle against climate change. You'll receive daily updates about how you can make a difference. Tips cover everything from green workplaces to green Halloween celebrations. It even has tips on how to reduce the carbon footprint of your wedding.

45. Green Charging -- 99 cents

Green Changing reduces your energy consumption when you charge your phone. Launch the app when you start charging and it'll notify you with sound and vibration when your battery is fully charged. Some of the best things are so simple.

46. Green Wars -- $1.99

Based on the classic Drug Wars game, Green Wars requires players purchase environmental products for cheap and resell them for a profit. Manage your inventory to make the biggest profit on buying and selling recycled paper, LED light bulbs, reusable shopping bags, recycled paper and fixed-gear bicycles. Once you've earned some street cred by making deals, you can buy and sell high-end goods like solar items, geothermal pumps, carbon credits and hybrid cars.

47. HuffingtonPost -- Free

The notorious, liberal news website HuffingtonPost comes to iPhone with the latest green, political, media, business and entertainment news.

48. iGreen -- 99 cents

Stay current on the latest solar, hybrid, green and green tech news. Aggregated new sites on iGreen include About My Planet, Azo CleanTech, VentureBeat, Green Biz, Green Computing, Hybrid Car Blog and more.

49. MeterRead -- $2.99

Read your meter with ease using your iPhone. Check it again later and MeterRead provides you with data to better control your power bill. This app from Zerogate displays the total kilowatt hours used since the last reading and calculates your total usage for the next 30 days.

50. WiFi Finder -- Free

Never worry again about locating a WiFi connection. The WiFi Finder database includes close to 300,000 free and paid locations in over 140 countries. You also can download the entire hotspot directory for offline use. Quick and easy weekly updates mean you always have the latest data.

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Coupon Sherpa is the penny pinching, coupon clipping, deal digging, Himalayan haggling, he-man of bargains. Visit www.couponsherpa.com for more shopping advice, insider tips and coupons.

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(c) 2010, http://www.couponsherpa.com/

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

“Perfume Grass” Could Solve Problem of Antibiotics in Water Supply

Written by Tina Casey
Published on April 17th, 2010
Posted in Green Jobs, Waste Reduction, Water

Researchers at Michigan Tech use vetiver grass to remove antibiotics from waterResearchers at Michigan Technological University are on to a simple, low cost solution to the complicated problem of keeping antibiotics out of water supplies. In a study of vetiver grass grown in antibiotic-laden water, they found that 95.5% of the drugs were removed from the water and taken into the plant tissue.

Vetiver grass is sturdy, spiky grass native to India that is well known for its use in erosion control. Vetiver grass is also used in perfumes and in handicrafts for local economic development projects. In a somewhat ironic twist given its aromatic properties, vetiver grass is also an up-and-comer in the growing field of phytoremediation, in which plants and wetlands are used to remove contaminants from wastewater and stormwater.


Antibiotics and Drinking Water

Antibiotics are part of a growing problem with pharmaceuticals in drinking water, both for human and animal consumption as well as crop irrigation. The buildup of antibiotics in the environment could encourage drug-resistant strains of bacteria to develop. Wastewater that passes through a treatment plant can still contain antibiotics, because conventional treatment methods do not break down excreted antibiotics.


Vetiver and Antibiotics

In the Michigan Tech experiment, researchers grew vetiver grass under controlled conditions in a greenhouse, using a hydroponic system. Over a twelve-week period they exposed the grass to different concentrations of two antibiotics commonly used in the dairy industry, tetracycline and monensin. The results: the plants took up all of the tetracycline and all but .5% of the monensin. The researchers also noted that the plants seemed to enjoy the antibiotic bath and grew significantly faster than those in a control group. The next step is to figure out what to do with the antibiotics after they take up residence in the plant tissue.

The Future of Phytoremediation

Phytoremediation is one of those sustainability threefers we love so much. The basic concept is to use plants, often in constructed wetlands, to suck pollutants out of water. The plants provide a low cost, energy efficient way to tackle pollution, they form a wildlife habitat or potential recreation area, and they could also be harvested for other uses — as a source of non-food crops for biofuels, for example. But wait, there’s more. Phytoremediation also fits right into the U.S. EPA’s ambitious plan to create more green jobs by reclaiming brownfields for sustainable energy projects. Though a non-native species, vetiver is easily controlled and is not considered invasive, so don’t be surprised to see a big place for it in the sustainability toolkit of the future.

Image: Vetiver grass by treesftf on flickr.com.
Source: http://cleantechnica.com/2010/04/17/perfume-grass-could-solve-problem-of-antibiotics-in-water-supply/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+cleantechnica%2Fcom+%28CleanTechnica%29

The Spotless Garden

By MICHAEL TORTORELLO
Published: February 17, 2010


THERE’S a “Beyond Thunderdome” quality to Rob Torcellini’s greenhouse. The 10-by-12-foot structure is undistinguished on the outside: he built it from a $700 kit, alongside his family’s Victorian-style farmhouse in Eastford, Conn., a former farming town 35 miles east of Hartford. What is going on inside, however, is either a glimpse at the future of food growing or a very strange hobby — possibly both.

There are fish here, for one thing, shivering through the winter, and a jerry-built system of tanks, heaters, pumps, pipes and gravel beds. The greenhouse vents run on a $20 pair of recycled windshield wiper motors, and a thermostat system sends Mr. Torcellini e-mail alerts when the temperature drops below 36 degrees. Some 500 gallons of water fill a pair of food-grade polyethylene drums that he scavenged from a light-industry park.

Mr. Torcellini’s greenhouse wouldn’t look out of place on a wayward space station where pioneers have gone to escape the cannibal gangs back on Earth. But then, in a literal sense, Mr. Torcellini, a 41-year-old I.T. director for an industrial manufacturer, has left earth — that is, dirt — behind.

What feeds his winter crop of lettuce is recirculating water from the 150-gallon fish tank and the waste generated by his 20 jumbo goldfish. Wastewater is what fertilizes the 27 strawberry plants from last summer, too. They occupy little cubbies in a seven-foot-tall PVC pipe. When the temperature begins to climb in the spring, he will plant the rest of the gravel containers with beans, peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers — all the things many other gardeners grow outside.

In here, though, the yields are otherworldly. “We actually kept a tally of how many cherry tomatoes we grew,” Mr. Torcellini said of last summer’s crop. “And from one plant, it was 347.” A trio of cucumber plants threw off 175 cukes.

If that kind of bounty sounds hard to believe, Mr. Torcellini has a YouTube channel to demonstrate it. “There’s alternate ways of growing food,” he said. “I don’t want to push it down people’s throats, but if someone’s interested, I’d like to show them you can do this with cheap parts and a little bit of Yankee ingenuity.”



It’s all part of a home experiment he is conducting in a form of year-round, sustainable agriculture called aquaponics — a neologism that combines hydroponics (or water-based planting) and aquaculture (fish cultivation) — which has recently attracted a zealous following of kitchen gardeners, futurists, tinkerers and practical environmentalists.

And Australians — a lot of Australians.

In Australia, where gardeners have grappled with droughts for a decade, aquaponics is particularly appealing because it requires 80 to 90 percent less water than traditional growing methods. (The movement’s antipodean think tank is a Web site called Backyard Aquaponics, where readers can learn how, say, to turn a swimming pool into a fish pond.)

In the United States, aquaponics is in its fingerling stage, yet it seems to be increasing in popularity. Rebecca Nelson, 45, half of the company Nelson &Pade, publishes the Aquaponics Journal and sells aquaponics systems in Montello, Wis. While she refused to disclose exact sales figures, Ms. Nelson said that subscriptions have doubled every year for the last five years, and now number in the thousands. Having worked in the industry since 1997, leading workshops and consulting with academics, she estimates that there may be 800 to 1,200 aquaponics set-ups in American homes and yards and perhaps another 1,000 bubbling away in school science classrooms.

One of Ms. Nelson’s industry colleagues, Sylvia Bernstein, who helped develop a mass-market hydroponic product called the AeroGarden, recently turned her attention to aquaponics. She has started her own YouTube channel and a blog (aquaponicgardening.wordpress.com) and is teaching aquaponics at the Denver Botanic Gardens. She said she has done market research that suggests the technology may appeal to a half-dozen consumer types, including those seeking fresh winter herbs; gadget-happy gardeners; and high-income parents and their science-fair kids. But primarily, she envisions aquaponics as catnip for “the LOHAS market,” she said. “That means Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability — the green crowd.”

It’s worth mentioning that most of those categories would appear to describe the 47-year-old Ms. Bernstein. She built her first aquaponics system with her 15-year-old son on a concrete pad outside her remodeled 1970s-era Boulder, Colo., home. And she has since set up quarters in a 240-square-foot greenhouse. While she boasted about picking fresh basil the other day for a risotto, she has lately been preoccupied with exotic fish. Having tired of tilapia and trout, Ms. Bernstein is now introducing pacu, a thin, silvery import from South America that she called “a vegetarian piranha.”

Aquaponics is addictive, Ms. Bernstein believes, and it has a way of becoming a full-time pursuit. “If you spend some time on Backyard Aquaponics,” she said, “people start with this little 100-gallon backyard system. But it never stays that way. Next thing, they’ll say, the tilapia were really cool, but I want to grow trout.”

Interested in aquaponics, but not ready to make it a life calling? No problem. An Atlanta company called Earth Solutions now sells kits online, on Amazon.com and the Home Depot’s Web site. Called Farm in a Box, they range in price from $268 to $3,000, and come with pipes, pumps, frames and fittings. David Epstein, 50, the osteopath and entrepreneur who invented Farm in a Box, reports that the company has sold several hundred units since the product went on sale last March.

Dr. Dave, as he likes to be called, created Farm in a Box after studying a do-it-yourself manual written by Travis W. Hughey — a creative debt that bothers Mr. Hughey not a bit.

Mr. Hughey, 49, is not just another proselytizer for aquaponics but, in his words, an “agri-missionary” who hopes to help feed the developing world. His free step-by-step plans have been downloaded more than 15,000 times since he started his site, Faith and Sustainable Technologies (fastonline.org), in 2007.

Mr. Hughey credits researchers at North Carolina State University for building the prototype that started the modern aquaponics movement some 25 years ago. By comparison, he came to aquaponics with little more than an unfinished biology degree at Oral Roberts University and a background in yacht repair, a career that required him to be “a jack of all trades, and a master of every one of them.”

The low-tech, low-cost design for his “Barrel-Ponics Manual” can be built out of three 55-gallon barrels, a pump, a wooden frame and some off-the-shelf hardware. One barrel, which sits on the ground, holds the fish. A second — split in half and filled with gravel — holds the plants. The final barrel, a storage or flush tank, perches above the other two like a toilet tank. The effluent-rich water that flows from one receptacle to the next is the life of the system, flooding the plants with nutrients and then trickling back into the fish tank.

From these rudiments, all manner of aquaponics systems can be built. Mr. Hughey has nine of them going in a demonstration greenhouse outside the double-wide mobile home he shares with his wife and two daughters in Andrews, S.C. He has grown everything from radishes to a papaya tree in those barrels. Of course, his family could also eat the tilapia swimming around the 1,000-gallon in-ground plastic tank. But he’s saving them to use as brood stock.

Mr. Hughey figures that other aquanauts will need to buy fingerlings from somewhere. He’s starting to sell assembled Barrel-Ponics kits, too, for $495, plus shipping.

This winter, he has begun construction on a pair of 1,200-square-foot aquaponics greenhouses to raise produce for the local natural foods market. Each one will take 80 barrel halves, 9 tons of gravel and a 3,000-gallon tilapia tank. The power for the pumps and heaters will come from a “hand-built” biodiesel generator. Mr. Hughey already has the fuel sitting in the yard: 12,000 gallons of vegetable oil that passed its expiration date.

He isn’t exactly stocking up for the end times. But with the way the economy is going, he said, it might not be a bad idea to have a backup plan to feed his family and neighbors. “I’m trying to make this place as self-reliant as possible,” he said. “But ultimately, self-reliance isn’t possible unless it’s profitable.”

There is something about aquaponics that seems to inspire this quirky blend of entrepreneurialism, environmentalism and survivalism. Even a mainstream businesswoman like Ms. Bernstein points to the water shortages in farming areas like the Central Valley in California — “to say nothing of Africa,” she added.

Jack Rowland can imagine a day when aquaponics set-ups could be built into new apartment complexes and be fed by municipal waste and geothermal power. In the meantime, he has started his own 1,200-gallon tilapia hatchery in his family’s unfinished basement in Wappingers Falls, N.Y., about 10 miles south of Poughkeepsie. He houses the fish in black cattle troughs, which have proved to be sturdy and nontoxic. A stock tank heater keeps the water at a comfortable 75 degrees.

Tilapia will tolerate crowding and will feast on your table scraps. (“They’re the ultimate garbage disposal unit,” Mr. Rowland said.) But, being tropical by nature, they die in the cold.

One of the pools is called the Dinner Tank. It is here that Mr. Rowland condemns his tilapia to a five-day fast before they make their way to the frying pan or the broiler. Tilapia, he said, do not deserve their bad reputation among cooks as the white bread of the waterways — mealy, pale and bland — but “you have to purge them or they taste gamey.”

“Most of the tilapia sold here was harvested months ago in China,” he said. “It’s like eating a fresh tomato versus what you buy in the grocery store.”

This summer, he hopes to transfer his operation from a spot next to the washer and dryer to a 50-foot-long hoop greenhouse. But he’s going about the project carefully. This attention to detail will most likely comfort Mr. Rowland’s neighbors: in his day job, Mr. Rowland, 57, is an outage planner for the Indian Point nuclear power plant.

Though Mr. Rowland spends perhaps an hour a night in the basement, looking for floaters and new spawn, he knows that no system is fail-safe. Pumps break, heaters go haywire. The art of aquaponics is one of trial and error.

“My mentor in the tilapia world told me I really wouldn’t be a master of tilapia until I killed at least a million fish,” he said. “I’m not there yet.”

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/18/garden/18aqua.html