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== Plans ==
== Plans ==


Despommier argues that the technology to construct vertical farms currently exists. He also states that the system can be profitable and effective, a claim evidenced by some preliminary research posted on the project's website. Developers and local governments in the following cities have expressed serious interest in establishing a vertical farm: [[Inchon]] ([[South Korea]]), [[Abu Dhabi]] ([[United Arab Emirates]]), and [[Dongtan]] ([[China]]),<ref>{{cite web |last= McConnell |first= Kathryn |title= Vertical Farms Grow Food by Growing Up, Not Out |work= [[Bureau of International Information Programs]] |publisher= [[United States Department of State]] |date= 2008-07-01 |url= http://www.america.gov/st/foraid-english/2008/July/20080630192325AKllennoCcM0.5946161.html |doi= |accessdate= 2008-08-12 }}</ref> New York City, Portland, Ore., Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Seattle, Surrey, B.C., Toronto, Paris, Bangalore, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Incheon, Shanghai and Beijing. The Illinois Institute of Technology is now crafting a detailed plan for Chicago. It is suggested that prototype versions of vertical farms should be created first, possibly at large universities interested in the research of vertical farms, in order to prevent failures such as the [[Biosphere 2]] project in Oracle, Arizona.<ref>[http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-rise-of-vertical-farms Dickson Despommier. November 2009. "Growing Skyscrapers: The Rise of Vertical Farms."]</ref>
Despommier argues that the technology to construct vertical farms currently exists. He also states that the system can be profitable and effective, a claim evidenced by some preliminary research posted on the project's website. Developers and local governments in the following cities have expressed serious interest in establishing a vertical farm: [[Incheon]] ([[South Korea]]), [[Abu Dhabi]] ([[United Arab Emirates]]), and [[Dongtan]] ([[China]]),<ref>{{cite web |last= McConnell |first= Kathryn |title= Vertical Farms Grow Food by Growing Up, Not Out |work= [[Bureau of International Information Programs]] |publisher= [[United States Department of State]] |date= 2008-07-01 |url= http://www.america.gov/st/foraid-english/2008/July/20080630192325AKllennoCcM0.5946161.html |doi= |accessdate= 2008-08-12 }}</ref> New York City, Portland, Ore., Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Seattle, Surrey, B.C., Toronto, Paris, Bangalore, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Incheon, Shanghai and Beijing. The Illinois Institute of Technology is now crafting a detailed plan for Chicago. It is suggested that prototype versions of vertical farms should be created first, possibly at large universities interested in the research of vertical farms, in order to prevent failures such as the [[Biosphere 2]] project in Oracle, Arizona.<ref>[http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-rise-of-vertical-farms Dickson Despommier. November 2009. "Growing Skyscrapers: The Rise of Vertical Farms."]</ref>


In 2010, the [[Green Zionist Alliance]] proposed a resolution at the 36th World Zionist Congress calling on Keren Kayemet L'Yisrael ([[Jewish National Fund]] in Israel) to develop vertical farms in [[Israel]].<ref>{{cite web |title= Green Zionist Alliance (GZA) – Bold Resolutions for 36th World Zionist Congress |url= http://www.greenprophet.com/2010/06/green-zionist-alliance-gza-resolutions/ }}</ref>
In 2010, the [[Green Zionist Alliance]] proposed a resolution at the 36th World Zionist Congress calling on Keren Kayemet L'Yisrael ([[Jewish National Fund]] in Israel) to develop vertical farms in [[Israel]].<ref>{{cite web |title= Green Zionist Alliance (GZA) – Bold Resolutions for 36th World Zionist Congress |url= http://www.greenprophet.com/2010/06/green-zionist-alliance-gza-resolutions/ }}</ref>

Revision as of 17:57, 29 October 2010

File:Vertical farms.jpg
Proposed designs for vertical farms

Vertical farming is a proposed agricultural technique involving large-scale agriculture in urban high-rises or "farmscrapers".[1] Using advanced greenhouse technology and greenhouse methods such as hydroponics, these buildings would produce fruit, vegetables, edible mushrooms and algae year-round.

Proponents argue that, by allowing traditional outdoor farms to revert to a natural state and reducing the energy costs needed to transport foods to consumers, vertical farms could significantly alleviate climate change produced by excess atmospheric carbon. Critics have noted that the costs of the additional energy needed for artificial lighting, heating and other vertical farming operations would outweigh the benefit of the building’s close proximity to the areas of consumption.[2][3]

Background

Dickson Despommier, a professor of environmental health sciences and microbiology at Columbia University in New York City, developed the idea of vertical farming in 1999 with graduate students in a medical ecology class. He had originally challenged his class to feed the population of Manhattan (About 2,000,000 people) using 13 acres (5.3 ha) of usable rooftop gardens. The class calculated that, by using rooftop gardening methods, only 2 percent would be fed. Unsatisfied with the results, Despommier made an off-the-cuff suggestion of growing plants indoors, vertically. The idea sparked the students' interests and gained major momentum. By 2001 the first outline of a vertical farm was introduced and today scientists, architects, and investors worldwide are working together to make the concept of vertical farming a reality. In an interview with Miller-McCune.com, Despommier described how vertical farms would function:

"Each floor will have its own watering and nutrient monitoring systems. There will be sensors for every single plant that tracks how much and what kinds of nutrients the plant has absorbed. You'll even have systems to monitor plant diseases by employing DNA chip technologies that detect the presence of plant pathogens by simply sampling the air and using snippets from various viral and bacterial infections. It's very easy to do. Moreover, a gas chromatograph will tell us when to pick the plant by analyzing which flavenoids the produce contains. These flavenoids are what gives the food the flavors you're so fond of, particularly for more aromatic produce like tomatoes and peppers. These are all right-off-the-shelf technologies. The ability to construct a vertical farm exists now. We don't have to make anything new.[4]

Architectural designs have been produced by Chris Jacobs of United Future, Andrew Kranis at Columbia University and Gordon Graff [5][6] at the University of Waterloo.

Mass media attention began with an article written by Lisa Chamberlain in New York magazine.[7] Since 2007, articles have appeared in The New York Times[8], U.S. News & World Report[9], Popular Science[10], Scientific American[11] and Maxim (magazine), among others, as well as radio and television features.

Advantages

Several potential advantages of vertical farming have been discussed by Despommier.[12] Many of these benefits are obtained from scaling up hydroponic or aeroponic growing methods.

Preparation for the future

It is estimated that by the year 2050, close to 80% of the world’s population will live in urban areas and the total population of the world will increase by 3 billion people. A very large amount of land may be required depending on the change in yield per hectare. Scientists are concerned that this large amount of required farmland will not be available and that severe damage to the earth will be caused by the added farmland. Vertical farms, if designed properly, may eliminate the need to create additional farmland and help create a cleaner environment.[13]

Increased crop production

Unlike traditional farming in non tropical areas, indoor farming can produce crops year-round. All-season farming multiplies the productivity of the farmed surface by a factor of 4 to 6 depending on the crop. With some crops, such as strawberries, the factor may be as high as 30.[14][15]

Furthermore, as the crops would be sold in the same infrastructures in which they are grown, they will not need to be transported between production and sale, resulting in less spoilages, infestations, and energy required than conventional farming encounters. Research has shown that 30% of harvested crops are wasted due to spoilage and infestations, though this number is much lower in developed nations.[11].

Despommier suggests that, if dwarf versions of certain crops are used (e.g. dwarf wheat developed by NASA, which is smaller in size but richer in nutrients[16]), year-round crops, and "stacker" plant holders are accounted for, a 30-story building with a base of a building block (5 acres) would yield a yearly crop analogous to that of 2,400 acres (970 ha) of traditional farming.[11]

Crops grown in traditional outdoor farming suffer from the often suboptimal, and sometimes extreme, nature of geological and meteorological events such as undesirable temperatures or rainfall amounts, monsoons, hailstorms, tornadoes, flooding, wildfires, and severe droughts.[12] The protection of crops from weather is increasingly important as global climate change occurs. “Three recent floods (in 1993, 2007 and 2008) cost the United States billions of dollars in lost crops, with even more devastating losses in topsoil. Changes in rain patterns and temperature could diminish India’s agricultural output by 30 percent by the end of the century.”[17]

Because Vertical Farming provides a controlled environment, the productivity of vertical farms would be mostly independent of weather and protected from extreme weather events. Although the controlled environment of vertical farming negates most of these factors, earthquakes and tornadoes still pose threats to the proposed infrastructure, although this again depends on the location of the vertical farms.

Conservation of resources

Each acre in a vertical farm could allow between 10 and 20 outdoor acres of farmland to return to its natural state[18], and recover farmlands due to development from original flat farmlands.

Vertical farming would reduce the need for new farmland due to overpopulation, thus saving many natural resources[11], currently threatened by deforestation or pollution. Deforestation and desertification caused by agricultural encroachment on natural biomes would be avoided. Because vertical farming lets crops be grown closer to consumers, it would substantially reduce the amount of fossil fuels currently used to transport and refrigerate farm produce. Producing food indoors reduces or eliminates conventional plowing, planting, and harvesting by farm machinery, also powered by fossil fuels. Burning less fossil fuel would reduce air pollution and the carbon dioxide emissions that cause climate change, as well as create healthier environments for humans and animals alike.

Organic crops

The controlled growing environment reduces the need for pesticides, namely herbicides and fungicides. Advocates claim that producing organic crops in vertical farms is practical and the most likely production and marketing strategy.

Halting mass extinction

Withdrawing human activity from large areas of the Earth's land surface may be necessary to slow and eventually halt the current anthropogenic mass extinction of land animals.

Traditional agriculture is highly disruptive to wild animal populations that live in and around farmland and some argue it becomes unethical when there is a viable alternative. One study showed that wood mouse populations dropped from 25 per hectare to 5 per hectare after harvest, estimating 10 animals killed per hectare each year with conventional farming.[19] In comparison, vertical farming would cause very little harm to wildlife.[20]

Impact on human health

Traditional farming is a hazardous occupation with particular risks that often take their toll on the health of human laborers. Such risks include: exposure to infectious diseases such as malaria and schistosomes, exposure to toxic chemicals commonly used as pesticides and fungicides, confrontations with dangerous wildlife such as poisonous snakes, and the severe injuries that can occur when using large industrial farming equipment. Whereas the traditional farming environment inevitably contains these risks (particularly in the farming practice known as “slash and burn”), vertical farming – because the environment is strictly controlled and predictable – reduces some of these dangers.[12] Currently, the American food system makes fast, unhealthy food cheap while fresh produce is less available and more expensive, encouraging poor eating habits. These poor eating habits lead to health problems such as obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. The increased availability of fresh produce created by a Vertical Farm would encourage healthier eating habits of the surrounding population, decreasing the occurrences of major health issues related to poor dieting.[21]

Urban growth

Vertical farming, used in conjunction with other technologies and socioeconomic practices, could allow cities to expand while remaining largely self sufficient. This would allow for large urban centers that could grow without destroying considerably larger areas of forest to provide food for their people. Moreover, the industry of vertical farming will provide employment to these expanding urban centers. This may help displace the unemployment created by the dismantling of traditional farms, as more farm laborers move to cities in search of work.[12] It is highly unlikely that traditional farms will become obsolete, as there are many crops that are not suited for vertical farming, and the production costs are currently extremely lower.

Energy production

Vertical farms could exploit methane digesters to generate a small portion of its own electrical needs. Methane digesters could be built on site to transform the organic waste generated at the farm into biogas which is generally composed of 65% methane along with other gasses. This biogas could then be burned to generate electricity for the greenhouse.[22]

Technologies and devices

Vertical farming relies on the use of various physical methods to become effective. Combining these technologies and devices in an integrated whole is necessary to make Vertical Farming a reality. Various methods are proposed and under research. The most common technologies suggested are:

Plans

Despommier argues that the technology to construct vertical farms currently exists. He also states that the system can be profitable and effective, a claim evidenced by some preliminary research posted on the project's website. Developers and local governments in the following cities have expressed serious interest in establishing a vertical farm: Incheon (South Korea), Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates), and Dongtan (China),[23] New York City, Portland, Ore., Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Seattle, Surrey, B.C., Toronto, Paris, Bangalore, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Incheon, Shanghai and Beijing. The Illinois Institute of Technology is now crafting a detailed plan for Chicago. It is suggested that prototype versions of vertical farms should be created first, possibly at large universities interested in the research of vertical farms, in order to prevent failures such as the Biosphere 2 project in Oracle, Arizona.[24]

In 2010, the Green Zionist Alliance proposed a resolution at the 36th World Zionist Congress calling on Keren Kayemet L'Yisrael (Jewish National Fund in Israel) to develop vertical farms in Israel.[25]

Criticism

Economics

The analytical work needed to establish the feasibility of vertical farming has not been done.[citation needed] A detailed cost analysis including operation, transportation, fertilization and soil preparation costs, crop success rates, and health-care, recycling, renewable energy, and employment benefits is required to determine the cost effectiveness of vertical farming compared to traditional farming.[citation needed] The extra cost of lighting, heating, and powering the vertical farm may negate any of the cost benefits received by the decrease in transportation expenses.[citation needed] The economic and environmental benefits of vertical farming rest partly on the concept of minimizing food miles, the distance that food travels from farm to consumer.[citation needed] However, a recent analysis suggests that transportation is only a minor contributor to the economic and environmental costs of supplying food to urban populations. The author of the report, University of Toronto professor Pierre Desrochers, concluded that "food miles are, at best, a marketing fad."[26]

Similarly, if the power needs of the vertical farm are met by fossil fuels, the environmental effect may be a net loss; even building, say, wind turbines to power the farms may not make as much sense as simply building the turbines, leaving the traditional farms in place, and burning less coal.[citation needed]

The initial building costs will be easily over $100million, for a 60 hectare vertical farm.[27]

Land Return

It is possible that construction of vertical farm space would not replace as intended, but rather supplement existing farmland to meet increasing demand for food and biofuel.[citation needed] It is also important to note that many of the most important food crops such as corn, rice, and wheat would not realize a large benefit that many fruits and vegetables gain when grown in greenhouses.[citation needed] This means that these crops would still be grown in fields over vertical greenhouses.[citation needed]

Energy Use

File:B11architecture exteriors040.jpg
A greenhouse with its lights on at night

The energy levels required for vertical farming will be very high.[citation needed] As the normal amount of light, which is over 90% utilized by field crops, is being split between 30 or so floors, ten to forty watts per square foot of supplemental light will be required.[28][29] Bruce Bugbee, a crop physiologist at Utah State University, believes that the huge power demands of vertical farming would be too expensive and uncompetitive with traditional farms using only free natural light.[30] Heating costs can be very high in greenhouses, causing many greenhouses to close down in the winter months.[citation needed] Even throughout the northern continental United States, while heating with relatively cheap fossil fuels, the heating cost can be over $200,000/ha.[31]

Light Pollution

Greenhouse growers commonly exploit photoperiodism in plants to control whether the plants are in a vegetative or reproductive stage. As part of this control, growers will have the lights on past sunset and before sunrise or periodically throughout the night. Single story greenhouses are already a nuisance to neighbours because of light pollution, a 30 story vertical farm in a densely populated area will surely face problems because of its light pollution.[32]

CO2 Use

As plants acquire nearly all their carbon from the atmosphere, greenhouse growers commonly supplement CO2 levels to 3-4times the rate normally found in the atmosphere. This increase in CO2, which has been shown to increase photosynthesis rates by 50%, contributes to the higher yields expected in vertical farming.[33] It is not uncommon to find greenhouses burning fossil fuels purely for this purpose, as other CO2 sources, like from furnaces, contain pollutants such as sulphur dioxide and ethylene which significantly damage plants.[33] This means a vertical farm will require a CO2 source, most likely from combustion, even if the rest of the farm is powered by 'green' energy. Also, through necessary ventilation, much CO2 will be leaked into the city's atmosphere.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Urbanism and the environment". Gristmill. Retrieved 2009-03-14.
  2. ^ Could vertical farming be the future? Nelson, B. (2008). MSNBC.
  3. ^ Monbiot, G. (16 August 2010). Greens living in ivory towers now want to farm them too. 'The Guardian'.
  4. ^ Arnie Cooper. May 19, 2009. "Going up? Farming in High Rises Raises Hopes."
  5. ^ Whyte, Murray (2008-07-27). "Is high rise farming in Toronto's future?". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2008-08-12.
  6. ^ "Sky Farm Proposed for Downtown Toronto". TreeHugger. Retrieved 2009-03-14.
  7. ^ Chamberlain, Lisa (2007-04-02). "Skyfarming". New York Magazine. Retrieved 2009-06-26.
  8. ^ Venkataraman, Bina (2008-07-15). "Country, the City Version: Farms in the Sky Gain New Interest". New York Times.
  9. ^ Shute, Nancy (2007-05-20). "Farm of the Future? Someday food may grow in skyscrapers". U.S. News & World Report.
  10. ^ Feldman, Amy (2007-07-11). "Skyscraper Farms". Popular Science.
  11. ^ a b c d Despommier, Dickson (November 2009). "The Rise of Vertical Farms". Scientific American. 301 (November 2009). New york: Scientific American Inc.: 60–67. ISSN 0036-8733.
  12. ^ a b c d Despommier, D. (2008). "Vertical Farm Essay I". Vertical Farm. Retrieved 2009-06-26.
  13. ^ The Vertical Farm Project. 2009. “Agriculture for the 21st Century and Beyond.” http://www.verticalfarm.com/
  14. ^ Despommier, D. (2008). "Vertical Farm Essay I". Vertical Farm. Retrieved 2009-06-26.
  15. ^ "Vertical Farm Video". Discovery Channel. 2009-04-23. Retrieved 2009-06-26.
  16. ^ "Dwarf Wheat grown aboard the International Space Station". NASA. 9 February 2003. Retrieved 17 November 2009.
  17. ^ Michael Pollan. September 9, 2009. “Big Food vs. Big Insurance.” http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/10/opinion/10pollan.html?_r=3&ref=opinion
  18. ^ A Farm on Every Floor, The New York Times, August 23, 2009
  19. ^ S.L. Davis (2001). "The least harm principle suggests that humans should eat beef, lamb, dairy, not a vegan diet". Proceedings of the Third Congress of the European Society for Agricultural and Food Ethics. pp. 449–450. {{cite conference}}: Unknown parameter |booktitle= ignored (|book-title= suggested) (help)
  20. ^ S.L. Davis (2001). "The least harm principle suggests that humans should eat beef, lamb, dairy, not a vegan diet". Proceedings of the Third Congress of the European Society for Agricultural and Food Ethics. pp. 449-450.
  21. ^ Michael Pollan. September 9, 2009. “Big Food vs. Big Insurance.”http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/10/opinion/10pollan.html?_r=3&ref=opinion
  22. ^ Case Study — Landfill Power Generation, H. Scott Matthews, Green Design Initiative, Carnegie Mellon University. http://gdi.ce.cmu.edu/gd/education/landfill-case.pdf Retrieved 07.02.09
  23. ^ McConnell, Kathryn (2008-07-01). "Vertical Farms Grow Food by Growing Up, Not Out". Bureau of International Information Programs. United States Department of State. Retrieved 2008-08-12.
  24. ^ Dickson Despommier. November 2009. "Growing Skyscrapers: The Rise of Vertical Farms."
  25. ^ "Green Zionist Alliance (GZA) – Bold Resolutions for 36th World Zionist Congress".
  26. ^ Evans, P. (July 22, 2009). Local food no green panacea: professor. CBC News http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2009/07/22/consumer-local-food.html
  27. ^ http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/facts/greenbus.htm
  28. ^ http://www.homegrownlights.com/testing.html Accessed August 28, 2010
  29. ^ http://www.homegrownlights.com/testing.html Accessed Aug 28, 2010
  30. ^ Roach, J. (June 30, 2009). High-Rise Farms: The Future of Food?. National Geographic News. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/06/090630-farm-towers-locally-grown.html
  31. ^ http://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/crops/greenhouse/bng01s01.html
  32. ^ http://books.google.ca/books?id=61B_RV3EdIcC&pg=PA163&lpg=PA163&dq=light+pollution+from+greenhouses&source=bl&ots=urmZBt-wPb&sig=5gszY-jVz5S55O4ERmYkF_IHxu4&hl=en&ei=nuGwTMqgIczVngfblbiSBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CDkQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=light%20pollution%20from%20greenhouses&f=false
  33. ^ a b Blom, T.J. (2002-12). "Carbon Dioxide In Greenhouses". Retrieved 2010-10-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
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