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Is it the laws of thermodynamics? Because agriculture being fundamentally solar powered in an ideal situation (you know, photosynthesis and all that), vertical
by vanderZwan 4y ago
Is it the laws of thermodynamics? Because agriculture being fundamentally solar powered in an ideal situation (you know, photosynthesis and all that), vertical farming it never made much sense to me.
- aeternum 4y agoNo, the issue is you were taking a process that was solar and instead making it dependent on the grid which is mostly fossil fuel powered. Until energy is much much cheaper, vertical/indoor farms just don't make sense.
- vanderZwan 4y agoI guess I should have explicitly mentioned that solar input is largely defined by how many square kilometers one can dedicate to whatever needs solar input. Unless vertical farming adopts the tricks of forests, where plants at different levels prefer different amounts of sunlight, it won't in any way make efficient use of said solar input. But at that point you might as well just call it a high-tech agroforest.
- aeternum 4y agoYes, the other challenge is current energy costs. Right now, vertical farms are likely better off selling their solar back to the grid rather than using it for farming. Maybe they can grow mushrooms for now :D