Been doing some networking lately, to build up a support base of technical expertise. This weekend, I went to a permaculture event at the Living Systems Institute over in Golden, and learned a little about hugelkultur, poultry, and beekeeping/swarm capturing.
LSI has a relatively immature greenhouse/aquaponics setup going, but as they are at least a few months ahead of me, I look forward to learning from their mistakes and successes. There were a few other aquaponicists there as well, all doing tilapia, so if my wife doesn't manage to source some free fingerlings through craigslist or freecycle (giveaways are not uncommon around here), I've learned that I can go to The Grow Haus or the associated Colorado Aquaponics site.
The LSI class was titled "Introduction to Integrated Closed Loop Productions Systems":
This has gotten me to musing about the differences between the permaculture movement and the ultimate goals of CELSS. With traditional permaculture, the emphasis is on the integration of the system into the local and global ecosystem. There really aren't any closed loops, except perhaps (practically speaking) at the global level. Different permaculturists have varying ideas regarding self sufficiency, but are generally plugged into the surrounding habitat. CELSS are not- emphasis is on closed, they are designed to be completely self sufficient and stable for long periods. Clearly however there is a need for understanding the integration of various cycles internal to a CELSS, so permaculture lessons are extremely valuable to CELSS implementation. At the same time, CELSS are somewhat simpler, and thus have the potential to better explore the causal effects within a controlled system, ultimately enhancing understanding of the system integration.
LSI has a relatively immature greenhouse/aquaponics setup going, but as they are at least a few months ahead of me, I look forward to learning from their mistakes and successes. There were a few other aquaponicists there as well, all doing tilapia, so if my wife doesn't manage to source some free fingerlings through craigslist or freecycle (giveaways are not uncommon around here), I've learned that I can go to The Grow Haus or the associated Colorado Aquaponics site.
The LSI class was titled "Introduction to Integrated Closed Loop Productions Systems":
Integrated Closed Loop Production Systems
Copy to clipboard
In a closed loop production system, all inputs are produced as a part of the system itself, reducing cost of inputs to zero. In an integrated production system, all by-products of each process are used as feed stock in other processes, reducing waste to zero. That is how an ecosystem works. An ecosystem is a complex adaptive system, like a flock of birds. The organization arises spontaneously from the repeating interactions of each of the elements. There is no one making decisions. The system is said to "self-organize"... .
This has gotten me to musing about the differences between the permaculture movement and the ultimate goals of CELSS. With traditional permaculture, the emphasis is on the integration of the system into the local and global ecosystem. There really aren't any closed loops, except perhaps (practically speaking) at the global level. Different permaculturists have varying ideas regarding self sufficiency, but are generally plugged into the surrounding habitat. CELSS are not- emphasis is on closed, they are designed to be completely self sufficient and stable for long periods. Clearly however there is a need for understanding the integration of various cycles internal to a CELSS, so permaculture lessons are extremely valuable to CELSS implementation. At the same time, CELSS are somewhat simpler, and thus have the potential to better explore the causal effects within a controlled system, ultimately enhancing understanding of the system integration.