A provocative new study looks at the resource utilization and technological strategies that would be needed to make a Mars population of one million people food self-sufficient. A detailed model of population growth, caloric needs, land use, and potential food sources showed that food self-sufficiency could be achieved within 100 years. The study is published in New Space: The Journal of Space Entrepreneurship and Innovation, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.
In the article entitled "Feeding One Million People on Mars," coauthors Kevin Cannon and Daniel Britt, University of Central Florida, Orlando, evaluated different food sources and quantitatively modeled the shifting balance between food supplied provided from Earth and that produced locally on Mars over time. The model is based on a diet composed of plants, insects, and cellular agriculture, which can produce "clean" meat and fish, algae, chicken-less eggs and cow-less milk. The study takes into account the energy, water, and other systems needed for food production. The researchers discuss the implications of their findings and present recommendations for future research.
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