I’m not sure this would actually work? Is there anything wrong with it? I think it would only work somewhere that doesn’t experience cold winters. The idea that it uses things that are already highly available in a very efficient synergistic combination.
On a surface look, probably it works. Maybe things like nitrate/phosphate balance or pest/microbe control impact the long term production.
The problem, as with all CCS strategies is: how do you pay for it? Maybe you can sell those products for a rate that covers the labour and wear and upkeep of the system? It might just be more cost effective to take the carbon-free energy and use it to displace fossil fuel consumption…
Excess energy sale, biochar, animal feed, fertilizer sales. Along with carbon capture credits if somewhere that pays for that.
Oh I also forgot, technically you could probably raise fish in the pond as well, but I don’t know if they’d eat all the azolla. The point also is to keep the pond shallow, less than 10 cm, to make it easier to construct, harvest, and manage.
Master Plan: Agrivoltaic Azolla Cultivation (Simplified)
A practical, low-cost system that uses solar panels and floating water ferns (Azolla) to capture carbon and generate profitable products.
The 4-Step System Loop
1) Shallow Clay Ponds
- Setup: Dig flat, shallow trenches (~10 m wide) lined with local clay.
- Water depth: Keep at 5–10 cm to minimize weight and water use.
- Flow: Use gravity and simple plastic gates to slowly drift ferns toward the harvester.
2) Solar Panel Canopy (Agrivoltaics)
- Shade: Mount solar panels to block 40–50% of harsh midday sun, reducing fern sunburn.
- Cooling: Pond evaporation cools panels, improving efficiency by up to 12%.
- Power: Panels generate 100% of facility electricity.
3) Automated Squeeze Loop
- Skim: Automated paddle wheels continuously collect grown ferns.
- Squeeze: High-torque electric screw press reduces moisture from ~95% to ~50%.
- Recycle: Nutrient-rich juice is piped back into ponds, recycling ~90% of fertilizer.
4) Solar Drying & Final Products
- Dry: Sun-dry squeezed biomass in simple plastic tunnel greenhouses.
- Outputs:
- Biochar: Bake dry fern without oxygen to lock carbon away.
- Animal feed: High-protein dry ferns for livestock and fish feed.
- Fertilizer: Pelletized fern to replace synthetic nitrogen fertilizer.
Estimated Yearly Yields (Per 1 Hectare Pilot)
- Solar energy: ~600,000 kWh clean power
- Biomass: ~35–40 tons dry Azolla
- Carbon captured: ~110 tons CO₂e sequestered
- Water & nutrients: 100% recycled closed loop