From sand to soil in 7 hours | Ole Morten Olesen | TEDxArendal

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Published 2016-12-02

Water is a scarce resource that many of us take for granted, but unfortunately large parts of Earth’s population do not have that luxury. Ole and his innovation team have tried to solve an enormous task: to turn sand into soil. Even more exciting – they believe they have solved the problem!

Listen to Ole talk us through the concept behind turning deserts and sand dunes green. How their technology could change the face of the planet, and solve parts of the global environmental problem. Presenting the game-changing concept at TEDxArendal, he will show you the fascinating images of the green lush results!

Ole Morten has an extensive background in R&D and is focused on "Desert Control" since the companys inception. He has been instrumental in developing and testing Liquid nano clay, which is a tool for turning sand into soil.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at ted.com/tedx

All Comments (21)

@I.am.Mumma.Bear.1 1 year ago

This was 6 years ago .. why are we not seeing the progression of this amazing technology being implemented??? 🤷‍♀️🤦‍♀️💕👍🏽
@coffeeisthepathtovictory1290 4 years ago

This man and his father deserves a nobel prize.
@yellowbird5411 4 years ago

The resistance to opening up new avenues of planting in deserts and waste lands with new techniques and technology seems to be based on the interests of established farmers, and the massive amount of investment into machinery not designed for various planting techniques and crop maintenance. But it is three years since this TedX talk was done, and we find the weather patterns have changed so drastically, that farmers and governments will be forced to change as well. The deserts in some areas are now blooming, and alternative growing methods are now more at the fore due to necessity. I have watched videos on Grow boxes in planting trees, and everything from floating gardens to raised beds, to hanging gardens and grow towers, and various kinds of hydroponics. It is not the lack of solutions we are faced with, it is employing these solutions to mass farming practices without the establishment dragging their feet. This clay is one of many solutions, and I applaud all the efforts made in this direction.
@mikeash7428 6 years ago

I know this difficulty of turning sand into gardening soil from personal experience as well as trying to amend with clay. Congrats on coming up with the nano technique for getting clay to disperse and mix in as well as understanding how the microbes make the fertilizer available to plants. We'll be needing this technology as the world continues its human population growth. Tying all these sciences together, being careful of environmental degradation to desert species, pollution from salt to ag water production, and planning and implementing human population......these are big challenges aren't they!
@mycophile2393 4 years ago

So many are quick to dismiss the fungi as a useless particle of the ecosystem. But they are the precursor to a healthy one. It would be interesting to see what kind of mycological opportunities this technology could be combined with.
@graphene1487 2 years ago

that bolo tie deserves a nobel prize
@janfrederiksen1539 5 years ago

Absolutely amazing! The world needs this so much. Is it an expensive solution? I worry only big companies gets to do this and end up controlling even more of the worlds ressources.
@pamelaglasser1954 4 years ago

Always wonderful to have innovative earth-friendly solutions !
@desertpermaculture-thar1726 3 years ago

I did it in desert with 60k plants through drip and flow...It's amazing..Mix clay with water and let the water flow..
@emariaenterprises 5 years ago

Thank you for this wonderful discovery. Once again, there is no population limit for the planet. We can feed our people.
@lindavilmaole5003 4 years ago

That's an amazing dream: GREENING THE SAHARA DESERT! if it can be done, then science and technology would be at its BEST!
@wildopeneye1634 3 years ago

Brilliant! Very promising! Very well done, Mr. Olesen.
@downbntout 6 years ago

Immensely exciting. Go, Norway!
@bobjackson4720 6 years ago

Interesting stuff, I hope the right people get to hear about this product.
@236Mars 4 years ago

Amazing ideas! We need to get these implemented on a very large scale, soonest.
@judeirwin2222 4 years ago

The future is in studying and applying the lessons of mycorrhizal relationships. Fungi have been misunderstood or ignored for centuries. Yet they supply plants up to huge trees with nutritional minerals, while receiving sugars they need from the plants. They can also rehabilitate degraded, eroded, polluted or fire damaged land. You young people wondering what to study, mycoforestry and agriculture is a field full of reward and productivity.
@valeriekneen-teed3313 5 years ago

This is truly amazing!! Wow! How Beautiful!
@jamescampbell1952 7 years ago

Amazing Talk - very inspiring. I believe that the technology that these people have created could change the world - and i hope to be a part of this. Thank you mate, and thanks to TED for hosting the talk.
@chandanchandra4819 6 years ago

Congratulations Sir. Request you to please share your experiences with others also around the world. I invite you to India
@ajtrvll 7 years ago

Great idea!!... Look into what else is needed for soil : perhaps biochar ?... in Brazil it was used massively by indigenous people to turn unproductive clay soil into fertile farm lands. Also, with some strategic planning, water availability in desert regions will not be an ongoing challenge : as bare sand is transformed, the ground is cooled and dust is mitigated... weather systems slowly gain entry into the desert where they deposit rain... which promotes even greater transformation, cooling and dust mitigation... creating a virtuous circle. Keep up the good work!