Vertical farms
LEDs are the most suitable choice of light, as they can increase vertical farm efficiencies by up to 50%. 8 Typically, LEDs that use only the blue and red spectra are preferred as they optimize plant growth, while at the same time reducing energy costs. What would be better is if engineers could devise a process of blinking LEDs, making them produce frequent and intense lights for plants to carry out more photosynthesis. 9 A constant supply of water is crucial to vertical farms, tubes transporting water to different parts of the structure will be needed to provide irrigation for all crops. There are four types of irrigation a vertical farm can use: drip irrigation, nutrient film technique, flood and drain, and deep-water culture, each requiring different amounts of water. Although the water need for vertical farms is lower than that of conventional farms, the sourcing of it might prove a challenge due to the location of these farms. 10 As the temperature, humidity and all environmental aspects of the farm all need to be controlled, there will be a significant demand for energy which cannot be overlooked. For example, to control moisture levels, HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) units will need to be running non-stop. Furthermore, the demand for energy for lighting will also be an area of concern. Generally speaking, obtaining energy will be imperative for the functioning of all sectors involved in the vertical farm. 11 Ensuring that all these needs are met promptly can prove to be a challenge. For example, Europe’s biggest vertical farming company, Infarm, experienced significant challenges with powering their farms when energy prices in the EU went up by 58%. This meant that electricity costs, which only accounted for 28% of operational costs before that, now accounted for 40%, leading to a crisis within the company. 12
Challenges for successful implementation of vertical farms
Currently, the biggest issue for vertical farms is their large appetite for hundreds of megawatts of energy. The amount of energy a vertical farm consumes is much larger than that a conventional farm consumes as free sunlight and water are not as inaccessible indoors. Without adopting renewable energy, the carbon footprint of vertically grown produce is larger than that of conventionally grown produce. For example, growing a pound of lettuce with fossil fuel will produce 8 pounds of CO2. This offsets the potential environmental advantages of vertical farming. Even when renewable energy is adopted, maintaining a low cost will still be challenging. On average, it takes approximately 9 acres of solar panels to power one acre of a vertical farm due to the inefficiency of solar panels. Additionally, we 8 ‘ Vertical Farming Series Part 1: Engineering a Vertical Farm ’, Manufacturing.net , December 17, 2015. https://www.manufacturing.net/operations/article/13184737/vertical-farming-series-part-1-engineering-a- vertical-farm. 9 Birkby, Jeff. ‘ Vertical farming ’, ATTRA sustainable agriculture 2 (2016): 1-12. 10 Co., ForFarming. ‘ 29 Dec Things to Consider While Irrigation in Indoor Vertical Farming ’, ForFarming , December 29, 1970. https://www.forfarming.co/things-to-consider-while-irrigation-in-indoor-vertical- farming/#:~:text=There%20are%20four%20types%20of,the%20type%20of%20plant%20grown. 11 McClelland, Brian. ‘ 8 challenges holding back vertical farming facilities ’, Stantec , May 31, 2023. https://www.stantec.com/en/ideas/topic/buildings/8-challenges-holding-back-vertical-farming-facilities. 12 Reynolds, Matt. ‘ Vertical Farming Has Found Its Fatal Flaw ’, Wired , December 22, 2022. https://www.wired.com/story/vertical-farms-energy-crisis/.
60
Made with FlippingBook - PDF hosting