I moved to Tucson, Ariz. three and a half years ago to study at the University of Arizona. Upon arriving, I made a list of all the things I wanted to do before graduation. It was a great way to learn about my new community and all the neat things close by. Well, this past weekend I saw something that was not on my list but definitely should have been. I went to Biosphere2.
Funded by Texas billionaire Edward Bass in the late 1980’s, the biosphere2 attempted to create a closed biosphere in space. The biosphere2 was created with the hopes of producing important research about how to create a sustainable environment on other planets. The size of two and a half football fields in the middle of the desert, the biosphere2 is basically a huge test tube. The glass structure is sealed off to the outside world. It uses trees, animals, human researchers (biospherians), etc to create a miniature biosphere within Earth’s biosphere. The structure produces its own air, recycles its water and can grow food. Despite it’s sheer size and $150-$200 million in investments, the biosphere2 has yet to produce any notable research. Oh well, walking through the Brazilian rainforest in the middle of the Sonoran Desert was enough to impress me.
Funded by Texas billionaire Edward Bass in the late 1980’s, the biosphere2 attempted to create a closed biosphere in space. The biosphere2 was created with the hopes of producing important research about how to create a sustainable environment on other planets. The size of two and a half football fields in the middle of the desert, the biosphere2 is basically a huge test tube. The glass structure is sealed off to the outside world. It uses trees, animals, human researchers (biospherians), etc to create a miniature biosphere within Earth’s biosphere. The structure produces its own air, recycles its water and can grow food. Despite it’s sheer size and $150-$200 million in investments, the biosphere2 has yet to produce any notable research. Oh well, walking through the Brazilian rainforest in the middle of the Sonoran Desert was enough to impress me. 
But, what does this have to do with sustainability or “green issues?” Well, that billionaire Edward Bass recently sold the biosphere2 and the 1600 acres it sits on to a development company under the agreement that the University of Arizona can manage it for the next two years. The UA has to pay $100 per year to lease the property! Anyway, after two missions that yielded very little in the way of actually research Edward Bass let Columbia University in New York City manage the site. Well, Columbia wanted out of the experiment early and also failed to establish the biosphere2 as a legitimate research institution. So, perhaps the third time is a charm. With the UA taking the reigns and managing the biosphere2 signs of research are already underweight.
So, with a turbulent past filled with unsuccessful research, is the biosphere a total failure? I don’t think so. During the tour the guide shot statistic after statistic at our group. The biosphere2 trucked in 250,000 gallons of ocean water into the facility for the ocean habitat. At the end of the two year research mission where eight researchers lived in the closed structure for two years and 20 minutes, all 250,000 gallons remained in the closed structure. This made me wonder. If eight people could live in just over three acres for over two years on only what was available in the structure itself…well, that would make them entirely self-sustainable right? They were able to use plants to create the oxygen needed to breathe, sunlight to feed plants, soil to nurture their crops for over two years! They recycled everything! My trip to the biosphere served to be more than a history lesson of the failed experiments and wasted money, it taught me about true sustainability and how it is actually possible!
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