Science & Technology News<\/a><\/p>\nDesert Control, a Norwegian start-up, is looking to turn deserts into a blooming, fertile ground. What normally takes 7 \u2013 15 years to transform soil to fertile land, they have managed to do in just 7 hours<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\nThrough a combination of climate change, drought, overgrazing and other human activities, desertification across the world is on the march<\/strong>. It\u2019s a process defined by the UN as \u201cland degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid regions\u201d. Given that around 40 per cent of the Earth\u2019s land surface is occupied by drylands \u2013 home to around two billion people \u2013 the potential for desertification to impact the planet is huge<\/strong>. A recent report from the Economics of Land Degradation Initiative claimed that it\u2019s a problem costing the world as much as US$10.6tn every year \u2013 approximately 17 per cent of global gross domestic product<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\nThe refugee crisis in Europe has highlighted the difficulties that arise when large numbers of people migrate. However, the numbers arriving from countries such as Syria, Lebanon and Eritrea pale in comparison to those that could be forced into exile by changing climate conditions. According to the UN\u2019s Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the process could displace as many as 50 million people over the next decade<\/strong>. <\/span><\/p>\nBut one Norwegian start-up is developing a technology to wage a frontline battle with desertification<\/span><\/strong>. <\/span>Desert Control is a Norwegian company<\/strong> set up by Kristian and Ole Morten Olesen, alongside chief operating officer Andreas Julseth. It was recently awarded first prize at ClimateLaunchpad, a clean-tech business competition that attracted more than 700 entries from 28 countries across Europe<\/strong>. The product that earned Desert Control top honours was <\/span>Liquid NanoClay, a mixture of water and clay that is mixed in a patented process and used to transform sandy desert soils into fertile ground<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\u00a0\u201cThe mixing process splits the clay particles into individual flakes and adds air bubbles on both sides of the flakes<\/strong>,\u201d Ole Morten Olesen, CEO of Desert Control, told The Engineer. \u201cThe mix is then spread over the land and allowed to saturate down to root level \u2013 about 40-60cm deep. This requires around 40 litres of water and 1kg of clay per square metre<\/strong>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nEl proceso de mezcla rompe las part\u00edculas de arcilla en forma de copos individuales y a\u00f1ade burbujas de aire a ambos lados los copos, \u00abOle Morten Olesen, director general de control del desierto, dijo el ingeniero. \u00abLa mezcla A continuaci\u00f3n se extiende sobre la tierra y se deja saturar a nivel de la ra\u00edz – alrededor de 40-60cm de profundidad. Esto requiere alrededor de 40 litros de agua y 1 kg de arcilla por metro cuadrado<\/em><\/span><\/p>\nOlesen explained that his father Kristian, Desert Control\u2019s chief technical officer, has been working on the process behind Liquid NanoClay since 2008<\/span>. The treatment gives sand particles a nanostructured clay coating, completely changing their physical properties and allowing them to bind water<\/strong>. The process, which <\/span>does not involve any chemical agents, can change poor-quality sandy soils into high-yield agricultural land<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\nEl tratamiento brinda a las part\u00edculas de arena de un revestimiento de arcilla nanoestructurado, cambiando completamente sus propiedades f\u00edsicas y que les permite unirse agua. El proceso, que no implica la presencia de agentes qu\u00edmicos, puede cambiar los suelos arenosos de baja calidad en tierras agr\u00edcolas de alto rendimiento.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\nAccording to Desert Control, virgin desert soils treated with Liquid NanoClay produced a yield four times greater than untreated land, using the same amount of seeds and fertiliser, and less than half the amount of water<\/strong>. It found that <\/span>Liquid NanoClay acts as a catalyst for Mycorrhizal fungi when nourishment is available, with the fungi responsible for the increased yield<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\nClay is a fundamental component of productive arable land, acting as<\/strong> a water-holder, providing elasticity, and allowing non-clay elements to bind to the soil<\/span>. In the past, adding clay to dry land\u00a0in order to improve its agricultural value has involved tilling clay into the soil<\/strong>. This requires large volumes of clay and substantial amounts of manual labour. The process of transforming sandy\u00a0soil into fertile land can take between seven and 15 years. By comparison, Liquid NanoClay takes just seven hours to saturate into the land<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\nThe water and clay is mixed on site using the patented process, then traditional irrigation systems such as sprinklers or water wagons are used to spread it across the sandy soil. The individual clay flakes bind to the surface of the sand particles with a Van der Waals binding<\/strong>, significantly increasing the ability of the soil to hold water and nutrients<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\nThe cost of treatment per hectare is US$4,800, and requires a 15-20 per cent retreatment after four or five years if the land is tilled<\/span><\/strong>. If the soil is untilled, the treatment lasts for longer. Converting a piece of desert the size of a rugby pitch into fertile land for this cost seems like a pretty good deal<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cIn just seven hours the soil is totally transformed<\/strong>,\u201d said Ole Morten. \u201cWe use existing irrigation systems to apply the Liquid NanoClay, removing the need to till the land and use much\u00a0greater volumes of water<\/strong>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nThe performance data for Liquid NanoClay is based on field tests<\/strong> that were conducted at the Agricultural Research Centre (ARC) <\/span>in Ismailia in Egypt. White pepper was planted in test fields containing dry sandy soil<\/strong>. Fields treated with Liquid NanoClay gave an additional two months of harvest, compared to the fields that were untreated.<\/span><\/p>\nFollowing the initial harvest, the plants were then left without irrigation over winter and spring, when new plants were due to be sown. However, the original crops were found to be in such good condition that they could be used for another season.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cWhen we returned the following season, we were surprised that<\/strong> the pepper plants were looking so healthy,\u201d said Ole Morten. \u201cWe had expected to have to replant, as they had been left over winter and spring without irrigation. But the old plants were in good enough shape that we could use them again in the next season.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nUnsurprisingly<\/strong>, some of the most vulnerable areas to desertification are in north and central Africa, around the edges of the Sahara. Other regions under threat include large parts of China and Mongolia, as the Gobi encroaches into the eastern parts of the Eurasian Steppe and the farmland it supports<\/strong>, as well as several regions in Australia.<\/span><\/p>\nWhen pitching Desert Control at ClimateLaunchpad, chief operating officer Andreas Julseth also focused in on the particular business opportunity available in Central Valley, California. Making up around 14 per cent of California\u2019s total land area, the valley is one of the world\u2019s most productive agricultural regions. However, since 2011, the state has been in the grip of one of the worst droughts on record<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cIn 2014, the agricultural sector in Central Valley lost 165,000 hectares to fallowing<\/strong>,\u201d Julseth recently told the ClimateLaunchpad audience. \u201cFallowing means they ploughed the land but didn\u2019t sow any seeds, because there simply wasn\u2019t enough water available to sustain the land. They estimate this had a US$2.2bn impact on the agricultural industry<\/strong>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nIn the desperate search for water, farmers in California have been digging ever deeper, employing oil-drilling equipment to reach the disappearing aquifers. Not only is this expensive, it is eradicating an ancient natural resource in a classic tragedy of the commons. Acting out of rational self-interest, the farmers are draining a communal water resource dry<\/strong>. Julseth believes Liquid NanoClay can help avert the impending tragedy<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cI believe that farmers will flock to us as soon as they see that they can reduce their dependency on water by at least 50 per cent<\/strong>,\u201d he said. \u201cPut it this way \u2013 if they were using our product, the present drought would no longer be a problem<\/strong>. I also believe that land developers will use the opportunity to buy dry land, have us treat it, and then be able to sell it for eight to 10 times the purchasing price. Because that\u2019s the reality now \u2013 dry land goes for one-tenth what fertile land goes for.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nIf Desert Control can successfully get Liquid NanoClay to market, the potential of the technology is enormous, with implications for fragile environments around the globe<\/strong> and the populations that inhabit them. Along with the testing that took place in Egypt, additional third-party verification is taking place at the Faculty of Natural Sciences at Imperial College London.<\/span><\/p>\nAlgunos comentarios jugosos<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n1kg of clay per square meter equals 100 000 clay kg per hectare.\u00a0 100 metric TONS! 40 liters of water per meter equals – 4 000 m3 of water spreaded per hectare…<\/span><\/em><\/p>\nOne question – how are you going to achieve it in a practical way? Just the clay, forget the water, is a HUGE operation and cost to transport, 100 metric tons for hectare. And one more thing – why no organic matter?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\nK\u00e1roly Tat\u00e1rv\u00e1ri I think, if topsoil dryed once a time, the wind carry away the NanoClay particles. Or how much the crust height, which the NanoClay maked, after when we are using this? Because the wind erosion is the top soils erodible movement!?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Como convertir un desierto en tierra f\u00e9rtil utilizando nanotecnolog\u00eda: NanoClay. Fuente: Fotos de Juan Jos\u00e9 Ib\u00e1\u00f1ez Pues s\u00ed, \u00a1se\u00f1oras y se\u00f1ores!, una empresa noruega e investigadores de la talla de Kristian and Ole Morten Olesen (m\u00e1s vale \u201clive\u201d que \u201cmorten\u201d y \u201cmoros que cristianos\u201d) dicen haber descubierto el secreto de c\u00f3mo convertir los yermos desiertos del mundo en suelos f\u00e9rtiles, en tan solo una pocas horas, o a veces un poquito m\u00e1s (ser\u00e1 cuando cambie el clima \u201cof course\u201d). \u00a1Se acab\u00f3 el hambre en el mundo! \u00a1Viva la madre que les pari\u00f3!. Desde luego no podemos competir en materia de\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[591,613,597,587,598,595],"tags":[46754,35877,47848,46948,47849,35878],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":4}},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madrimasd.org\/blogs\/universo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147963"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madrimasd.org\/blogs\/universo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madrimasd.org\/blogs\/universo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madrimasd.org\/blogs\/universo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madrimasd.org\/blogs\/universo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=147963"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.madrimasd.org\/blogs\/universo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147963\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":148625,"href":"https:\/\/www.madrimasd.org\/blogs\/universo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147963\/revisions\/148625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madrimasd.org\/blogs\/universo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=147963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madrimasd.org\/blogs\/universo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=147963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madrimasd.org\/blogs\/universo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=147963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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