University of Arizona leases Biosphere 2 for climate research

William Atkins
Wednesday, 27 June 2007 19:25

Science - Climate

Lately, the Biosphere 2 has been primarily used as a popular tourist site and as a laboratory for the University of Arizona (UA) ata Tucson.

However, UA officials announced Tuesday, June 26, 2007, that the Philecology Foundation (Fort Worth, Texas), founded by Texan oil billionaire Ed Bass, donated $30 million to take care of the expenses for the planned research projects--which will cover its expenses for at least three years.

Bass initially spent $200 million to have Space Biosphere Ventures build Biosphere 2 between 1997 and 1999 to research how people could live and work in a fully enclosed, self-sufficient biosphere while carrying out scientific experiments. Its results were intended to help forecast how humans would eventually colonize space on such bodies as the Moon and Mars.

The terrarium was designed to simulate a small, fully enclosed, and isolated version of the Earth. However, the first experiment, involving four men and four women in 2001, ended with controversy when, after intending to survive without supplies from the outside world, were forced to accept supplies of food and oxygen. Further experiments ended in failure when various problems occurred, both human-made and nature-made, to end the project prematurely.

Then, on June 5, 2007, the Biosphere 2 and its surrounding property were sold for $50 million for the purpose of building a housing development. The Biosphere 2 was intended to be destroyed in the process.

However, new plans have been made, at least for the Biosphere 2 and its 34-acre campus. The University of Arizona will pay a small fee to the housing developer for use of the property. The other 1,600-plus acres have been approved for development of 1,500 new homes and a resort hotel.

The Biosphere 2 structure has a surface area of 3.15 acres. Its foundation consists of a sealed 500-ton stainless steel liner. It contains 6,500 windows. Its total volume is 7.2 million cubic feet 0.2 cubic meter). It peaks in height at 91 feet (28 meters). Scientists will research such projects as climate change, water sustainability systems, energy transfer through ecosystems, and land-use change.

The official website of Biosphere 2 is: http://www.bio2.com/. Additional information on biospherics and Biosphere 2 is found at: http://www.biospherics.org/ and http://www.desertusa.com/mag99/apr/stories/bios2.html.