Cloud milking is the term used to describe a zero-energy technology that extracts water from fog, transforming the restoration of forests affected by fire and drought.
The concept was first tested as a pilot project in the Canary Islands, aiming to utilize the region’s humid “sea of clouds” for reforestation efforts and potentially export the technology to other countries for water production and irrigation.
Gustavo Vieira, the technical director of the project in the Canary Islands, explained that following destructive fires, the need arose to bring water to remote mountain areas without relying on traditional infrastructure or fossil fuels for water extraction.
The project, inspired by the way native bay leaves capture water droplets from fog, is based on collecting water through plastic mesh sheets placed along wind paths. The collected water is then used to irrigate new seedlings until they can absorb water through their leaves.
A new model, mimicking the water collection abilities of coniferous trees, has been developed to automatically extract water without energy consumption or carbon dioxide emissions, reducing water footprint and environmental impact.
Further applications of this technology are being explored for reforestation efforts in different regions, with successful implementations already seen in locations like Chungungo in Chile and the Cape Verde Islands.
The project offers open access to information on fog collectors, receiving significant interest from various parties interested in sustainable water extraction methods.
With positive results observed in reforestation projects, such as increased survival rates of trees and reduced carbon emissions, fog milking proves to be a cost-effective and environmentally friendly solution for water scarcity issues.
As water scarcity becomes a pressing concern in many regions, innovative technologies like fog milking offer a promising alternative for sustainable water supply.
Source: www.theguardian.com
