Biosphere 2

A mural of the entire original Biosphere 2

A couple of months ago, Jean and I visited Arcosanti - the low tech, passively heated and cooled "arcology" built by Italian architect Paolo Soleri, in the deserts north of Phoenix.  His goal was low impact, high density sustainable communities that would have a minimum impact on the environment, leaving undisturbed countryside for farming and wilderness right at the dense city's edge.

 This week, we visited a very different experiment in human habitation and sustainability- the extremely high tech Biosphere 2, in the Sonoran desert north of Tucson.  What is it about this state?

Biosphere 2 was a privately funded experiment, built in the early 90's, to explore the possibility of creating a closed self sustaining ecosystem to allow human habitation on other planets.  8 crew members, "biospherians",  farmed and maintained the structure for 2 years, in the first experiment. 

 All manner of difficulties were encountered - wildly fluctuating CO2 levels, oxygen depletion, species die offs and population explosions (cockroaches, of course).  They did manage to survive in the closed environment for 2 years - though at one point injecting additional oxygen for the safety of crew members.  

A second closed ecosystem experiment was later attempted, amidst changed ownership (Steve Bannon's investment company!), which lasted for about 8 months and ended with lawsuits and a good deal of ill will.  The property was vacant for a number of years, and then was purchased and run as a scientific ecological experiment by Columbia University from 95-2005.  It became the property of Arizona State University in 2007, and hosts ecological research as well as being a training facility for some of their programs.  The dome is no longer a closed system, but does allow certain sections to be closed off for experimentation with oxygen and CO2 levels, and such.

The large glass structure contained about 8 different ecosystems, from desert, to ocean to tropical rainforest.  You feel the difference in heat and humidity in each environment.  The white tower section in the middle contained the residences and labs.  The white structures behind that are now hosting experiments on the water cycle - ground water, plant use, evaporation and transpiration, rainfall.  The round dome you partly see on the right is one of 2 "lungs" that allowed for air expansion and contraction as the air heated and cooled when this was a closed environment.

A view from the deck overlooking the rainforest, in the large greenhouse.  The plants were selected to top out at 90 feet, as the dome tops out at just over 100'.  These are the original plantings from the 90's

Looking down over the ocean environment.  It is currently being transformed to emulate the nearby Sea of Cortez, between Baja and mainland Mexico.  On the level we were standing were a coastal fog desert habitat and a savannah ecosystem.  The lush bushes you see just past the ocean on the same level are a mangrove forest

The view out through the foggy glass is the rolling plains, canyons and foothills of the Sonoran desert, or Mars, if such a thing ever happens.

Original kitchen with all the best the 90's had to offer

A model of a possible Martian colony

A "Lunar Garden" module.  Hydroponics I presume.  There was also an "aquaponics" experiment being run by a local highschool - a fish farming tank that drained through several layers of vegetable garden, fertilizing and watering them, and filtering the water, which then pumped back up to the tanks cleaned and oxygenated.  

This is one of three angled tray slopes that have been filled with 6 feet of soil, loaded with sensors in the soil and in the closed atmosphere.  Apparently scientists have never had a good understanding of the actual mathematics behind the earths water system - ground water, amounts used and transpired by plants, effects on the atmosphere, rainfall, etc.  These large trays in 3 domes will be planted with different types of landscapes and all of the variables will be measured and studied - something we can't do in an open environment like the Earth.  This sort of information feeds into the climate models scientists use to understand our environmental challenges

Looking at outside of one of the two "lungs" that stabilized the atmospheric pressure as air heated and cooled, expanded and contracted, in the original closed system of the biospheres.  

Standing inside one of the the now unused lungs.  The stainless convex roof you see above would rise and fall by up to 50 feet as the days heated and nights cooled.  Otherwise the glass structures would have exploded or imploded. The black around the edges is a large rubberized membrane that allowed the expansion and contraction.  This interior lung moved within the glass sphere we're looking at in the picture above.

There were acres and miles of piping, refrigeration, heating, water recirculating in the basements beneath the structure.  It also had its own diesel, natural gas, and solar generating stations, though it is cheaper to be grid tied these days.  You'd definitely need some pipefitting and hvac skills to keep a place like this going

And finally a picture of me embracing a wonderful chunk of Arizona malachite.  Behind is the very nice southwestern housing for ASU students and visiting scientists, interns, etc.