Hi all, this is my first post, apologies if I still don't know all the rules.
I have been going down the permaculture rabbit hole since the beginning of the year. The effect is astounding, I feel like my life is making a major shift in priorities. And this is although so far I am mostly accumulating theoretical knowledge. I am currently based in a city, but my plan is to buy a plot of land in Algarve, Portugal. Why Algarve? I love Portugal, I want to retire there (preferably asap, but I still need to save up for some financial independence first plus I need to support my extended constantly growing family). Algarve suffers a lot from desertification and I hope that if I manage to grow a food forest there, I can inspire others to do the same instead of constantly destroying the soils there. Of course, there are already a few great permaculture projects in that area and I intend to learn from them with every opportunity I get.
I have read a dozen books by now on soils, permaculture, homesteading, and I am going through your amazing online course - I am sure many of my current questions will be answered there. However, I want to ask two questions I haven't seen asked on the forums yet.
1. Water. The area I am eyeing is quite dry - under 6 inches of rain per year. However, the air humidity is constantly high thanks to proximity to the coast (70-75% all year round, often higher). Plus there is wind, usually around 17km/h (10 miles/h). It is also quite warm, it is a USDA 10b zone. So it goes without saying that for tree guilds my first choice will be drought-resistant plants. However, even they need wate. Has anyone tired gathering water from the humid air using dew point, like bugs do in the desert? I have seen two approaches - fog catchers and desert sails, I don't know if that area gets a lot of fog. There is also a solution that used basically an electric humidifier but one needs electricity for it.
Here is a video that describes the sail approach, has anyone tried this?
2. Electricity. Now, suppose we have enough water for our plants, but we also need electricity and we don't want to use solar panels (whatever reason - budget, the fact that many solar panels use rare and/or toxic materials, etc). I have found a very interesting approach using Fresnel lens to use sunlight and water to build a steam engine, which I am sure can be used as a dynamo machine to produce electricity. They video is very old however, I wonder if there are any updated on this approach.
And of course, while both approaches look like at least very cool STEM projects, are they practical? How often would one need to replace the parts, clean and maintain the whole thing? Is the Occam razor met here or are there simpler ways to get water and electricity from air and sun, off grid and low tech?
Sorry for a long post, there will be more soon
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