Vertical farming is a proposal to perform agriculture in urban high-rises. These building have been called "farmscrapers." Using recycled resources and greenhouse methods like hydroponics, these buildings would produce fruit, vegetables, edible mushrooms and algae year-round in cities.
Dickson Despommier has promoted most recent research. Despommier is a professor of environmental health sciences and microbiology at Columbia University in New York City, New York.
There have been architectural designs by Andrew Kranis, Columbia University; Gordon Graff University of Waterloo; Chris Jacobs(Creative Director of United Future) of Los Angeles, California; Except Architecture & Consulting of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and SOA Architects in Paris, France (Augustine Rosenstiehl and Pierre Sartoux).
Mass media attention began with an article by Lisa Chamberlin in New York magazine. Since 2007, articles have appeared in The New York Times, U.S. News & World Report, Popular Science and Maxim, among others, as well as radio and television features.
Advantages
Weather related crop failures cannot occur. Continuous production of food occurs without regard to seasons. Minimal land use can reduce or prevent further deforestation, desertification, and other consequences of agricultural encroachment on natural biomes. Transportation energy use and pollution are reduced, because the food is produced near the place it is used. Producing food indoors reduces or eliminates conventional plowing, planting, and harvesting by farm machinery, though automation might be used. The controlled growing environment and recycling reduces the need for pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers.
Combinations of hydroponic, aeroponic, and related growing methods allow most crops to be produced indoors in large quantities. Current building designs plan to use energy from wind power, solar power, and incineration of raw sewage and the inedible portion of harvested crops.
Today, over 70% of the liquid fresh water on Earth is used for conventional agriculture. The agriculture often pollutes the water with fertilizers and pesticides. Vertical farms will use less water, and recycle it. The recycling condenses water transpired from the plants. This recycled water is pure, and can be used for crops or drinking.
Technologies & Devices
Vertical farming relies on the use of various physical methods to become effective. Combining these technologies and devices in an integrated whole is what a Vertical Farm consists of. Various types are proposed and under research. The most common technologies used are:
* Solar greenhouse (technical) / Greenhouse
* Aeroponics / Hydroponics
* Composting
* Grow light
* Phytoremediation
* Skyscraper
Plans
Professor Despommier argues that the technology to construct vertical farms currently exists. He also believes 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).
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