This could cause a Revolution!

[CuongNhuka]

I was watching The Colbert Report and the gentleman Stephen was interviewing was named... well, now I cann't remember. But, he was talking about verticle farming. The idea is that you build a farm on what is basicly a tower. it spirals up, instead of being flat. The gentleman said that they would be built in citys, on a water source, and feed using that water source (like a hydroponic farm). He said that this would allow us to need less space (for the farm itself) and less feul (it would be right in the city, so it doesn't need to shipped anywere). He also thinks that we would need fewer (if not no more) pestices, because we could regulate more heavily what is going into the space.

So, who thinks that this would be a good idea?

 

[FieldDiscipline]

Sounds very strange. Very interesting though.

 

[Nolerama]

Nice!

Here's an excerpt:

Year-round crop production; 1 indoor acre is equivalent to 4-6 outdoor acres or more, depending upon the crop (e.g., strawberries: 1 indoor acre = 30 outdoor acres)

No weather-related crop failures due to droughts, floods, pests

All VF food is grown organically: no herbicides, pesticides, or fertilizers

VF virtually eliminates agricultural runoff by recycling black water

VF returns farmland to nature, restoring ecosystem functions and services

VF greatly reduces the incidence of many infectious diseases that are acquired at the agricultural interface

VF converts black and gray water into potable water by collecting the water of
evapotranspiration

 

[Xue Sheng]

hmmm could just be a modern version of Hanging Gardens of Babylon

 

[CoryKS]

Works for people, works for cars, there's no reason why it can't work for food. One thing I'd be curious about is what the effect of city life would be on the food. We hear about the harmful effects of pesticides and fertilizers, what about gas/diesel exhaust or other urban pollutants?

 

[Big Don]

That's an interesting idea.

 

[Nolerama]

That would help keep money in urban centers, while creating jobs. People in those areas would be able to not only eat locally, but better.

Maybe we can save the bananas.

 

[MBuzzy]

Dr. Dickson Despommier http://www.verticalfarm.com/

Looks like a great idea to me, although I'm sure we can find some problems with it!

I would love to see this idea come to fruition. It could solve a lot of problems.

 

[Xue Sheng]

A Japanese architects want to build this, it was built in gardens. Basicaly it is a self contained city

Tokyo's Sky City

 

[Andy Moynihan]

I say go for it.

 

[zDom]

So, who thinks that this would be a good idea?

Possibly. We need people to begin thinking along these lines in any case.

I fear end of the American Way of Life may be near. (mourns)

Need more trains and fewer planes and automobiles. (mourns)

 

[thardey]

It would be interesting to get a tractor working on something like that - they may have to be re-designed.

 

[Nolerama]

It would be interesting to get a tractor working on something like that - they may have to be re-designed.

I agree. Maybe automate a foodstuffs tower like they do in the auto manufacturing industry...

Hey! Why not take the robots from the auto industry and use them to harvest crops? If this concept can work, I can see our food growing on a conveyor belt.

Anyone aware of any companies that are exploring this? I'd invest in it, or at least vote for candidates that support this notion.

 

[Sukerkin]

It is an interesting concept. The first thing that occurs to me tho' is what the 'energy budget' would be? Discounting construction, if you have to use up a lot of fossil fuels to light, heat, irrigate, air-exchange etc then the viability comes into question.

 

[Nolerama]

I'm no agriculture expert, but robotic plant caretakers/harvesters wouldn't use as much energy to farm food crops because there's a waiting period for the plants to grow.

I suggest solar power. There are already "green" buildings out there that chalk up a lot of their daily use of electricity to solar power. Ironically enough, I think Dubai is attempting to build an entire city based on green technology.

Now, if this process compartmentalized the growing process that might be a different story. If one floor is planting today, while another floor is harvesting, I can see more electricity being used.

Either way, if it's just floors of a building being harvested, then there's always good old elbow grease.

 

[Steel Tiger]

A Japanese architects want to build this, it was built in gardens. Basicaly it is a self contained city

Tokyo's Sky City

Yeah that's what many see as the future. Vertical farming is part of the whole arcology architecture theory. In such a system, a whole building or town, or city is self-sufficient. I believe the French have actually built an arcology somewhere. It doesn't look like a living building so much as a small village.

If we are able to pile our farming up on top of itself then there might actually be room for bio-fuel development and food agriculture. It could create wide open spaces where something other than humanity could live. That'd be nice.

 

[Sukerkin]

Aye, it would be nice to be able to 'close' the energy cycle and not be a resource-gobbling waste-factory like we are at the moment.

Mind you, I watched a documentary detailing the CHILL, KILL and ILL theorums of mass extinctions today, so my optimism might be running a bit low .