Whilst Hydroponics is probably 1,400 years old, the latest versions using LED strip lights and the latest mixes of colour in the lighting so as to allow crops to be grown on racks in caves or in shipping containers, or up the sides of buildings are perhaps 4 years or so old.
Part of the latest new wave of green technology – urban farming, ground-source heat pumping and cross laminated timber construction.
New projects are underway such as in the mines of South Wales or a cave beneath the Galleries of Justice where mushrooms are set to be grown using coffee grounds as the soil.
Are we on the verge of a new kind of urban farming, were lettuces are grown within 25 days at low cost, using workers who tour the small locations in caves or containers? Can this kind of farming be delivered commercially outside of there testing grounds of state controlled experiments in China?
Perhaps time to find out.
China opened the world's longest sea-crossing bridge and tunnel, linking the financial centre of Hong Kong, the gambling hub of Macau and western reaches of the Pearl River Delta at the heart of southern China's economic boom, at a cost of GBP11,790,000,000.
Meanwhile, works on stage 5 of River Leen Cycle Route project, improving the connection of the former Toll Bridge to Birdcage Walk, has been completed; a couple of snagging works on stage 4 using Birdcage Walk are outstanding (2 lampposts on Rennie Hogg Road).
More positive feedback has been received about the use of the road facility for kiddies learning to cycle on Victoria Embankment.
For some time, Nottingham was being picked out for projected increases in NO2 and extra plans to tackle it was being expected.
But it seemed odd given it was based on the projected growth of distance covered by cars in the city – and our public transport continues to attract custom.
A motion to do more was adopted at full council.
But the biggest thing we can do is in planning. Two mantras – "cities are good for us" and "put mass transport first".
Agglomeration – reducing the need for people to travel by bringing people's homes, work, education and recreation closer together.
Putting mass transport first – and given the ability to expand the tram network seems so far off, we must not do anything that hits at the viability of the bus.
Meanwhile, the Conservative government announcement of measures such as electric car recharging form lampposts by 2040 pails into insignificance against plans of other countries such as the Netherlands who plan to cease the sales of petrol and diesel cars by 2025, and to start making progress on that through focussing on companies' car fleets.