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> Instead of growing cabbage in prime real estate in Copenhagen, why don't we invest in Africa, give them some huge machines and then buy their produce? Do we

> Instead of growing cabbage in prime real estate in Copenhagen, why don't we invest in Africa, give them some huge machines and then buy their produce? Do we really need a repeat of the supply chains breaking down again to answer this question? African farmers were dismayed when their bumper crops were rotting in their fields because they couldn't export the crops or even sell the excess locally [0]. Livestock farmers also saw this as well [1]. It's hard to imagine that people haven't learned the value of having a robust local food supply chain, which is the one thing that I had hoped we had learned after the shortages and panic buying created during the 1st wave of COVID. I agree that vertical farming has limitations, but it could be a useful adjunct to meet demand the typical soil based farming cannot deliver. Moreover, much like Holland's greenhouse farming the chances are most of it will be exported in exchange for other goods. Also, remember Denmark has a limited growing season that could in theory help them plan for larger scale operations, which they can partner with for Mars colonization as things develop in both sectors. > I imagine it would work quite nicely in Iceland, with abundant energy and little (any?) arable land. It’s arguably better than mining Bitcoin with that energy. Why not both? The excess heat from the mining could be used to have heated greenhouse/nurseries while still utilizing the excess heat and energy. This was working rather well in Canada [2]. 0: https://allianceforscience.cornell.edu/blog/2020/04/ghana-farmers-lose-money-as-covid-19-disrupts-key-export-markets/ https://allianceforscience.cornell.edu/blog/2020/04/ghana-fa... 1: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2020/10/covid-19-has-ruined-pig-farming-%E2%80%95-farmer/ https://www.vanguardngr.com/2020/10/covid-19-has-ruined-pig-... 2: https://inhabitat.com/bitcoin-mining-powers-canadian-mans-innovative-aquaponics-system/ https://inhabitat.com/bitcoin-mining-powers-canadian-mans-in...

rat87 6y ago
> It's hard to imagine that people haven't learned the value of having a robust local food supply chain, which is the one thing that I had hoped we had learned after the shortages and panic buying created during the 1st wave of COVID. This seems like a worst case scenario, and it still seems like an overblown issue. I would say its usually much easier to just import produce if your country is not good at it. Use large ships and regulate them to be more energy efficient then they are now. It seems like we need solutions to panic buying --- Bitcoin in general doesn't seem very useful, making use of the captured heat is cool and better then wasting it but wouldn't it be easier just to not mine bitcoun
- ovi256 6y ago
  >This seems like a worst case scenario, and it still seems like an overblown issue. These are not overblown to people like military and civilian planners, who's jobs are setting up things during the good times so their country gets through the worst times like a global catastrophe or a world war. Having food security for years is essential for that. A pandemic like Covid-19 can severe supply chains for months. Their jobs is imagining what a Nipa virus pandemic or a world war could do. FWIW I have no particular opinion other that "huh interesting" about vertical farms and no idea about their role food security planning.
- ClumsyPilot 6y ago
  > "This seems like a worst case scenario." This and 'it's much easier to do X' is exactly the lax approach that gives us crisis after crisis when we are caught with our pants down and people die. "regulate them to be more energy efficient then they are now." Laws of physics do not obey congress, they will pollute unless we make them nuclear. And some countries are not even near an ocean.
- imtringued 6y ago
  Capturing bitcoin mining heat does not make it less energy intensive. If a bitcoin is worth X dollars it will always take X dollars worth of energy to produce a bitcoin. This is true even if you increase the efficiency of the miner.
  - snovv_crash 6y ago
    Nope. Greenhouses use very low grade heat, so they can be run on 'waste heat' from pretty much anything, including server farms. The light they need is a different issue...

rat87 6y ago

> It's hard to imagine that people haven't learned the value of having a robust local food supply chain, which is the one thing that I had hoped we had learned after the shortages and panic buying created during the 1st wave of COVID. This seems like a worst case scenario, and it still seems like an overblown issue. I would say its usually much easier to just import produce if your country is not good at it. Use large ships and regulate them to be more energy efficient then they are now. It seems like we need solutions to panic buying --- Bitcoin in general doesn't seem very useful, making use of the captured heat is cool and better then wasting it but wouldn't it be easier just to not mine bitcoun

ovi256 6y ago
>This seems like a worst case scenario, and it still seems like an overblown issue. These are not overblown to people like military and civilian planners, who's jobs are setting up things during the good times so their country gets through the worst times like a global catastrophe or a world war. Having food security for years is essential for that. A pandemic like Covid-19 can severe supply chains for months. Their jobs is imagining what a Nipa virus pandemic or a world war could do. FWIW I have no particular opinion other that "huh interesting" about vertical farms and no idea about their role food security planning.
ClumsyPilot 6y ago
> "This seems like a worst case scenario." This and 'it's much easier to do X' is exactly the lax approach that gives us crisis after crisis when we are caught with our pants down and people die. "regulate them to be more energy efficient then they are now." Laws of physics do not obey congress, they will pollute unless we make them nuclear. And some countries are not even near an ocean.
imtringued 6y ago
Capturing bitcoin mining heat does not make it less energy intensive. If a bitcoin is worth X dollars it will always take X dollars worth of energy to produce a bitcoin. This is true even if you increase the efficiency of the miner.
- snovv_crash 6y ago
  Nope. Greenhouses use very low grade heat, so they can be run on 'waste heat' from pretty much anything, including server farms. The light they need is a different issue...