Today was a really nice way to wrap up our trip–we toured the Floating Farm, which was the company I presented on during our pre-departure meetings, so I was excited to see it in person, and we also toured RDM Rotterdam. These visits were both very informational and inspiring to see the plethora of ways in which individuals and private companies are tackling sustainability issues. I think both of these companies stand out especially when compared to our business practices in the United States, and we can stand to learn from them.
The Floating Farm was a very interesting project. Housed mainly on a twenty-five by twenty-five meter concrete barge, around 30 cows are raised for dairy production. They are fed grass harvested from green spaces in the city along with various food waste, including potato peels and unused brewer’s grains. Then, the milk they produce is used to produce dairy products, which are immediately sold back to the community. Some of the main advantages of this project are that it promotes circular economy principles and cuts down on food waste, it minimizes emissions due to transportation as the production site and market are located right next to each other, it allows for the products to be produced without preservatives as they will immediately reach customers, and it allows for food production that is resiliant to climate change and sea level rise due to the farm’s floating nature. One of the next projects the farm is working on is branching out to floating fruit and vegetable production, however, nothing on a full-scale has been implemented yet.
Initially, when researching the farm, I wasn’t very impressed. A Floating Farm can only be implemented in particular areas that are located close to water and have climates conducive to raising cattle. Furthermore, none of the automation processes used are novel; industrial dairy farming in the United States has used automated milking and feed systems for a very long time. But the more I thought about that, I realized that it is besides the point. The main point is to put food production right next to the market where it is being sold and to use circular processes in our food chain. By producing the dairy in Rotterdam, the floating farm doesn’t have to use preservatives or refrigerator trucks and avoids a huge amount of carbon emissions due to transportation. Furthermore, in the case of an emergency, the Floating Farm can continue to supply Rotterdam with food, unlike faraway farms that are dependent upon fragile supply lines. This is very similar to decentralized power grids, in which localized energy production with solar power and other renewable sources helps decrease losses during transfer.
After the Floating Farm, we visited RDM Rotterdam, which is located in what used to be a defunct shipyard. The entire concept of RDM Rotterdam is encouraging innovation to future-proof the port so that it won’t become abandoned yet again. RDM does this by hosting technical facilities for students at Rotterdam’s university and technical college. Additionally, businesses can rent out facilities for a very low price within their facilities and have access to all the tools the university students have, as well as the students themselves. Some of the businesses that are currently tenants in the facility are Hardt Hyperloop, which is working on hyperloop transit technology, Coastruction, which uses 3D printing to create habitats for coral reefs, Ramlab, a company working on metal 3D printing technology, and the Dutch Drone Company. I loved to see how this old shipyard was given a new lease on life as an incubator for companies doing cutting-edge work, and I thought it was wonderful to have this project be in partnership with the local university and technical college. This multilevel collaboration is beneficial for all parties involved and will hopefully jumpstart some major innovations that will revolutionize the way we approach sustainability.
