Is it possible to grow crops for food, textiles, and energy all in the same field? We have found that it is very much possible. Through our super plant, we can start using our agricultural land to restore our soil while producing key materials for our communities.
During the UN climate conference COP27, Defugo Technologies participated in the COP27 Climate Hub, an on-site and digital broadcast hosted by We Don’t Have Time from Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt. David Coleman, Chairman of Defugo Technologies, joined the broadcast from Sharm El-Sheikh to talk about a new plant for regenerative agriculture.
David Coleman joined the COP27 Climate Hub on November 12th, 2022 to talk about a newly discovered super plant.
The focus of this Defugo & friends session was how we can reimagine our crop farming practices to capture carbon, restore soil health and produce what we need in terms of food, textiles, and energy. We believe that the best solution to this is not through new technology or innovation, but by changing what we grow in our fields.
By planting fast-growing, multi-purpose crops as a part of a crop rotation between conventional crop harvests, we can reduce the use of pesticides while improving biodiversity and yields. By using plants that have deep root systems, we can also draw carbon into the soil, reducing carbon in the atmosphere and minimizing the need for fertilizers.
Is this a pipe dream? We don’t think so. Defugo, together with Sydney University, has tested a “super plant” that has all these properties, and when put through our Universal Processing Plant it can give us materials to produce food, diesel, and textiles. Our goal is to implement this so that farmers increase their profits while reaching our sustainable development goals regarding hunger and climate change. If we implement this today, we can make a huge difference. “With converting just 1% of Australia’s landmass to this biomass, we’d be completely net zero. There are cattle stations that actually own more land than this” said David Coleman.
https://youtu.be/8sZctpxYYGI?t=14730
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65 w
Wonderful! what are the forces at work to make it actually pull through and are they sustainable?
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63 w
@evangy13 thank you for the comment, while not exactly sure on the forces that you are referring to, though the processing of this material into food and energy all runs on renewable solar. More on the UPP can be seen at our website www.defugo.com if you are interested.
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67 w
wow this sure does look like a super-solution! What is in the way to get going?
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63 w
@petter mainly regulation eg: AQUIS in Australia is stopping the importing of more clones to further develop the plant for the many conditions in Australia. The NSW gov't also banned waste to energy projects, which they say this falls under as we use residual crop material, never mind its all in the same process. So there are challenges.
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67 w
Wow. That’s really encouraging to hear! I hope this new plant is drought resistant as well so it can be grown in drought struck areas
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63 w
@Johannes_Luiga yes it is to a degree. The first few weeks are crucial to getting the roots established and then it is very self-sufficient as the root system is so deep. With better soil management this risk is negated by locking up deep soil moister.
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67 w
Excactly: Food and carbon capture.
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63 w
@tabitha_kimani Thank you and I am pleased you agree, its not a bad idea!