Possibilities of Vertical Farming Urban Greenhouses
November 25th, 2009
The vertical farm is a concept which could be put in place in populated areas to help create a sustainable source of crops. This concept is very valuable to urban communities as it could increase employment opportunities while taking advantage of a smaller space to grow larger yields of varied crops all year round. Utilizing one acre of land to build these special vertical farms can produce yields of crops that could be comparable to 6 acres of horizontal farming or more depending on the crops being grown. Another advantage is the fact that the vertical farming facilities could take advantage of a number of efficient methods to water and feed the crops.
Vertical farming does have its challenges, but the fact that they could be put in locations where environmental factors such as weather and climate can be devastating in horizontal farming can be avoided you can reduce wasted crops. Where drought, monsoons or other factors can destroy crops vertical farms can have controlled climate to help ensure that farming can be done all year to provide food to many people. Vertical farms can even be a source of energy production to reduce strain on the power grid by using methane gas from the compost cycle of inedible parts of plants.
Pests and problems with disease can be severely reduced in vertical farming to produce organic crops free of pesticides, herbicides and inorganic fertilizers which can be harmful to your health. All water runoff can be collected and recycled through evapotranspiration, essentially reducing water usage which is normally wasted through horizontal farming. The process also allows farmland to be returned to wildlife and reduce the need to cause destructive clearing for more farm land. This is important, especially as the human population will grow and more demand for farm land will increase.
To have efficient vertical farming, the structures must be constructed with a design that saves money, reduces resource use and can be many stories tall. Vertical farms can even be designed into several new buildings that wish to add in some sustainable crop growth into their available space facing south. Different designs have been proposed to make the vertical farms more efficient as to have the largest amount of natural light flood in for crops as well as using artificial growth lights for plants that do not receive the correct amount of natural sunlight to grow well.
Conservation of wildlife and their habitats is very possible with this method of crop growth. In island nations such as Japan, the Philippines and many others, the advent of growing crops in vertical farms would help to improve diets, and maintain a larger variety of crops in season all year round. Large arid locations can also make use of vertical farming systems where land is not available or ideal enough to grow in while making use of recycled water to keep the crops hydrated and growing healthy.
These urban greenhouses in the form of large multi-story buildings for vertical farming will offer solutions which can provide higher crop yields in a smaller space while providing some of the most sustainable options for urban development. We as the human race currently have the technology to start erecting such useful vertical farms and they could be a possibility in the very near future. Successful designs could take into account alternative energy sources such as wind turbines or unused real estate on the top of the buildings for solar panels to power grow lights. Using water collection options can also help to reduce the need to depend on any drinkable water source.
Vertical farming is one of the key things that we have to master to be able to live on the surface of the moon or other planets. Contained crops would be essential for nutrition and sustenance on other planets but the technology can be used here on earth to reduce the impact of population growth and increase in required farmland which would occupy the size of a country as large as Brazil. This would be the result of a 3 billion human expanse over the next 40 years if population control is not put into effect and vertical farming is not implemented.
