A Graettinger Pattern Greenhouse is a cluster of processes involving a renewable electricity source, an old fashioned Haber-Bosch plant that produces ammonia for use as both fertilizer and fuel, and an associated organic hydroponic greenhouse with aquaculture in runways beneath the steel grated floor.

The power for this operation in the Midwest has to come from wind as we don't have any other good renewable resource available. The greenhouse needs a good sized wind farm right next to it as well as a grid connection for the days when the wind isn't blowing.

Ammonia has been used directly as a fertilizer for corn crops in Iowa and it can be transformed into other nitrogen bearing products, such as urea, which may be better for the soil long term. That one is a question for the agronomists and it'll be getting attention as people get more concerned with topsoil quality. Ammonia is also quite usable as a fuel, which we've written about in several other entries in our FAQ.

The old fashioned ammonia production by Haber-Bosch may very quickly have a much more efficient competitor in the solid state ammonia synthesis process, but we think people will still build at least some plants using the older, tested method, just to gain access to the heat produced for the sake of operating greenhouses.

OK, that is all for now - we owe you a nice digram of how the thing will look, but give us a few weeks to get that in place, OK?