Vertical Farming

The Economist discusses the market implications of vertical farming in our global economy. The article has three videos as well which are informative and explain the concepts and science very clearly.

Right from the Economist:

"Such is the thinking behind vertical farming. The idea is that skyscrapers filled with floor upon floor of orchards and fields, producing crops all year round, will sprout in cities across the world. As well as creating more farmable land out of thin air, this would slash the transport costs and carbon-dioxide emissions associated with moving food over long distances. It would also reduce the spoilage that inevitably occurs along the way, says Dickson Despommier, a professor of public and environmental health at Columbia University in New York who is widely regarded as the progenitor of vertical farming, and whose recently published book, “The Vertical Farm”, is a manifesto for the idea".

"Indeed, even in today’s single-storey glasshouses, artificial lighting is needed to enable year-round production. Thanet Earth, a 90-hectare facility which opened in Kent in 2008 and is the largest such site in Britain—it provides 15% of the British salad crop—requires its own mini power-station to provide its plants with light for 15 hours a day during the winter months. This rather undermines the notion that vertical farming will save energy and cut carbon emissions, notes Mr Head, who has carried out several studies of the idea. Vertical farming will need cheap, renewable energy if it is to work, he says."

Time and time again we hear from the UN that the world’s population is expected to increase to about 9 billion by 2050. To feel such a population will mean increasing food production by 70% according to the FAO. This will undoubtedly require a combination of higher crop yields and an expansion of the area under cultivation. This could take the form of more agricultural land (which is unevenly distributed across the world). 60% of the world's population is expected to live in cities by 2030. This could translate into more innovation in the form of vertical or urban farming to feed such populations locally.