Crops growing in vertical skyscraper farms
May 7, 2008
Now this is just some amazing stuff. According to InventorSpot, scientists are capable of developing a multi-storied farm growing crops, everything from strawberries to lettuce, by using plenty of open space we grossly underutilize: the sky.
Scientist Dickson Despommier has designed a scheme to grow crops inside 30-story skyscrapers. This urban farm concept could help feed a rapidly growing population, leave space for forests, and supply potable water for entire cities.
…Currently, 40% of the land world-wide is being used for agriculture, to feed our current population of about 6 billion people. More and more forests are being cleared every year, removing valuable trees that sequester carbon dioxide and help quell global warming. By 2050, the population is expected to jump to 9 billion–how will the land be divided up?
If it were up to Despommier, a microbiologist at Columbia University, the answer lies in urban farming. Despommier envisions 30-story skyscrapers where crops are grown on every floor, each providing enough food and water for 50,000 people.
Despommier’s idea revolves around growing plants hydroponically, which is a method of growing plants without soil and with far less trouble. I think this is a fantastic idea, and really, what’s to come in the future. For years now I know many people have wondered where the increased population would reside and get their food. Certainly not by traditional means when we can’t even feed the population we have now.
Las Vegas is set to build the first one, due out in 2010. Using their given figures, they estimate a cost of $200 million to build and $6m per year for maintenance. But they would receive about $25m for the grown crops and $15m from visiting tourists.
So Vegas is building one — who’s next? California? New York? I could see how abundant sunlight could be less cost intensive but even if one had to pay for lighting to grow the crops, it would be an absolute boon. Now here’s an idea I’d for sure run with if I had the money to do it. Current millionaires, here’s your chance to build something worthwhile: good for the people, and your investment portfolio.
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