Award-winning invention to help feed the world
Sittingbourne: Tuesday, 3rd January 2012 Solar Grow 1 (SG1), a revolutionary germination and seedling development system, has the potential to put an end to world hunger. Developed by multi award winning scientist Alexander K Bushell, whose company Boundless Horizons operates out of the Kent Science Park, SG1 was awarded the 'British & World Invention of the Year' at the British Invention Show 2011 held at Old Spitalfields Market in London – the top award available at this prestigious show.SG1 is a mobile germination and seedling plant factory and is a major step forward in food production due to the quantity and diversity of what it can produce and the speed at which it can bring seedlings on. It can deal with almost any type of seeded crop and was specifically developed for use in humanitarian and disasters areas as it has the ability to grow crops to the point where they are ready to eat within seven days. SG1 can function for 24 hours a day, seven days a week, meaning that operators can constantly be producing and rotating crops. As an example, it can realistically grow 100,000 tomato plant seedlings in just one week. Since it can grow a wide variety of different plants its test lab can also help farmers to diversify crops, which in turn reduces expensive food transportation costs. All equipment is reusable, drastically reducing the amount of waste produced. The aim is for SG1 to get directly onto a site, analyse the soil and localised water options and then to begin crop repopulation immediately. Once on site, SG1 can be up and running within two hours. Fitting compactly into a shipping container, SG1 is fully habitable, including a toilet, shower and detachable tent. It contains all necessary horticultural equipment imaginable, meets all EU Health and Safety guidelines and can be sited anywhere as it runs on solar power. SG1 can use whatever type of water supply is available locally. It comes with 'plug and go' deep well pumps, a modular rain collection system and can even work with seawater, which it desalinates. Once operational, SG1 works at an outstanding 94% water efficiency. In addition to the humanitarian side SG1 has a number of potential commercial applications. Not least of these is the logistic advantage it can offer the military as it can be set up very quickly in almost any type of location in order to ensure that deployed military units can become rapidly self-sufficient with their non-meat food needs. Whilst the final cost of each unit has yet to be fully calculated, it is anticipated that each unit will cost between £28,000 and £30,000. More information on SG1 can be found by visiting www.boundlesshorizons.co.uk. Alexander K Bushell, Inventor of SG1, said: 'I am delighted that SG1 has won the British & World Invention of the Year award, and hope that this will help to raise the profile of this important technology. The SG1 system can also be used for famine relief in parts of the world that have been struck by natural disasters or areas where historically it has been difficult to cultivate crops. The beauty of SG1 is that it is fully self-contained and is so easy to use that even someone with only a passing knowledge of agriculture can be trained in its use within hours.' James Speck, Site Director of Kent Science Park, said: 'Kent Science Park is thrilled that Alex has won the British & World Invention of the Year award. Alex is no stranger to success, having won numerous awards in the past including an Innovation Award for the 'Hospital in a Box' which he created in 2005. We have always encouraged and supported Alex and hope that this new, potentially world changing invention receives the success and exposure that it deserves, for the benefit of everyone.' Pictured: Alexander K Bushell at work inside Solar Grow 1. |