13 T he famous economist Thomas Malthus predicted that human populations grow exponentially while food production grows at an arithmetic rate. The first part has already come true as the world population, which stands at 7.2 billion at present, is expected to leapfrog to 9.2 billion by 2025. The other part regarding food production also seems to be likely; we are already using 41 percent of the Earth’s land which equals 80 percent of the arable land as farmland. Moreover, 15 percent of this land has been exploited so many times that it has lost its productive capacity. Natural disasters such as global warming and drought and man-made catastrophes including radiation leaks and acid rain are making matters even worse. To deal with this food crisis, one man has conceived of a “vertical farm” which is a breakthrough regarding agricultural, environmental, and technological aspects. The Sungkyun Times (SKT) will introduce the idea and benefits of the vertical farm and how it is becoming a reality. d.fastcompany.net guardianlv.com Imaginary drawing of vertical farms Juyoung Kim [email protected]A Closer Look at a Vertical Farm What is a Vertical Farm? The concept of the vertical farm was first suggested by Dickson Despommier, an ecologist and professor at Columbia University. He claimed that it was the ultimate solution to impending problems such as the food crisis, diminishment of farmland, and depletion of water. Whereas an ordinary farm is horizontal and uses a single layer, the earth, a vertical farm is a skyscraper in which vegetables grow on multiple layers located at the core of a city. This “plant factory” is capable of producing almost every type of vegetable. The two distinctive features of the vertical farming are water culture method and LED lighting. The plants are not grown on soil in vertical farms. Rather, the roots of the crops grow in a tray of water which is rich in minerals and other nutrients. In contrast to the impression the name gives, water culture needs far less water than a traditional farming method. In addition, manipulative LED lighting replaces the role of the sun which exerts a powerful influence on traditional farming. Thus, vertical farms are free of unexpected conditions of the sun. Why Vertical Farms? There are numerous benefits of vertical farms. To start with, vertical farms maximize the efficiency of land use. The efficiency is multiplied by the number of floors they have. In fact, Despommier once stated that it is possible to secure food for fifty thousand people with a single, thirty-floored vertical farm covering just one block. Moreover, the variables of Vegetables growing under LED lighting
Transcript
13
The famous economist Thomas Malthus predicted that human populations grow exponentially while food production grows at an arithmetic rate. The first part has already come true as the
world population, which stands at 7.2 billion at present, is expected to leapfrog to 9.2 billion by 2025. The other part regarding food production also seems to be likely; we are already using 41 percent of the Earth’s land which equals 80 percent of the arable land as farmland. Moreover, 15 percent of this land has been exploited so many times that it has lost its productive capacity. Natural disasters such as global warming and drought and man-made catastrophes including radiation leaks and acid rain are making matters even worse. To deal with this food crisis, one man has conceived of a “vertical farm” which is a breakthrough regarding agricultural, environmental, and technological aspects. The Sungkyun Times (SKT) will introduce the idea and benefits of the vertical farm and how it is becoming a reality.
What is a Vertical Farm?The concept of the vertical farm was first suggested by Dickson Despommier, an ecologist and professor at Columbia University. He claimed that it was the ultimate solution to impending problems such as the food crisis, diminishment of farmland, and depletion of water. Whereas an ordinary farm is horizontal and uses a single layer, the earth, a vertical farm is a skyscraper in which vegetables grow on multiple layers located at the core of a city. This “plant factory” is capable of producing almost every type of vegetable. The two distinctive features of the vertical farming are water culture method and LED lighting. The plants are not grown on soil in vertical farms. Rather, the roots of the crops grow in a tray of water which is rich in minerals and other nutrients. In contrast to the impression the name gives, water culture needs far less water than a traditional farming method. In addition, manipulative LED lighting replaces the role of the sun which exerts a powerful influence on traditional farming. Thus, vertical farms are free of unexpected conditions of the sun.
Why Vertical Farms?There are numerous benefits of vertical farms. To start with, vertical farms maximize the efficiency of land use. The efficiency is multiplied by the number of floors they have. In fact, Despommier once stated that it is possible to secure food for fifty thousand people with a single, thirty-floored vertical farm covering just one block. Moreover, the variables of
Vegetables growing under LED lighting
14
farming such as light, temperature, and humidity are completely controlled in the enclosed vertical farms. Thus, produce grows all-year-round unaffected by pests, winter, or unpleasant weather conditions. This boosts up the productivity which contributes to lowering and stabilizing the price for consumers. Furthermore, vertical farms share the advantages of local food. Located even in a city’s downtown, it is in close reach to consumers. In other words, the delivery procedure reduces by a substantial amount of time and also reduces CO2 emissions on highways. Thus, people can receive vegetables which are both fresh and environmentally friendly. Moreover, vertical farms conserve energy by using renewable energy. For example, they compensate the lack of sunlight during a monsoon period or winter by using geothermal or solar energy. Additionally, vertical farms are equipped with systems in which water is recycled. Agricultural water for original farming accounts for 70 percent of usable water on Earth. This water goes through a long and indirect cycle to regain its form. However, vertical farms recycle water faster and more directly. Since they are indoor facilities, evaporation of water from leaves or trays for water culture is trapped. Then, this water is condensed to be able to be used again. This system conserves water by as much as seventy percent compared to ordinary farming. Moreover, Despommier positively opines that not only agricultural products but also domestic animals could be raised in vertical farms. Those especially suitable are fish, shrimp, clams, and animals with two feet such as chickens, ducks, and geese. Lastly, since vertical farms are constructible regardless of climate, they bring hope to deserted or frozen regions where lack of food is always the major concern.
Commercialization of Vertical Farms
Obstacles to CommercializationDespite various advantages, vertical farms are yet to be commercialized on the global scale due to financial burdens. The initial cost of constructing them is estimated to be two hundred to five hundred million dollars. There would also be an additional burden for Korea, since Korea has to import the seeds of vegetables which are best adapted to vertical farms. However, this initial cost can be offset afterwards for several reasons. First, the energy cost
is low because vertical farms use renewable energy. Second, less budget will be spent on environmental problems since vertical farms do not harm the environment. Third, they can make supplementary profits by becoming a green complex of leisure and tourism. Lastly, the vertical farm technology itself can be exported to other countries. Therefore, vertical farms are worth investing in.
Front Runners of CommercializationJapan is the country where vertical farms are commercialized the most. Japan has always been alert to natural disasters and radiation leaks which destroy and pollute farmland. Thus, i t has been eager to commercialize vertical farms as the alternative both domestically and overseas. At present, about 130 vert ical f a rms are running in Japan. Moreover, Japanese electronics companies, which are losing their ground in that field, have turned to constructing vertical farms abroad. Panasonic is the most successful example. It has built a vertical farm, Sky Greens, in Singapore. Sky Greens is the world’s first commercialized vertical farm. It has been a win-win success for both Panasonic and Singapore. While Panasonic acquired a new competitiveness in this field, Singapore found a new solution to deal with the lack of farmland. As a city-state, Singapore excessively relies on the import of agricultural produce. In fact, only eight percent of total vegetables sold in the domestic market are from Singapore itself. With Sky Greens proven to be successful and sustainable, Singapore sees it as the solution to its problem. Sky Greens produces 3.6 tons of vegetables annually. Among them, ten types of vegetables including lettuce, radish, and tomato are provided to three Ootoya restaurants (a Japanese franchise) in Singapore. The rest of the produce are sold at half the price of imported ones. Sky Greens aims to increase vegetable diversity to thirty different species, and to account for five percent of total vegetable production in Singapore.The United States is also at the forefront of commercialization as Aerofarms, an aeroponics company, plans to open the world’s biggest indoor vertical farm in Newark, New Jersey, in October 2015. Aerofarms has renovated a dilapidated steel factory to build the vertical farm. Marc Oshima, AeroFarms’ chief marketing officer, remarked, “We’re 75 times more productive per square foot annually than the field, and even ten times more productive
skygreens.com
Sky Greens from inside
plan
tago
n.co
m
15
than a hydroponic greenhouse. We use over 95 percent less water than growing out in the field.” This is possible because the trays containing vegetables are vertically stacked up in the 69,000-square-feet building. Moreover, Aerofarms’ patented state-of-the-art technology makes it possible to grow vegetables on nutritious mist, saving gallons of water. This vertical farm focuses particularly on green leaves and herbs.
Future of Vertical Farming in Korea
Vertical Farms in KoreaUnlike Japan and the United States, vertical farms are yet to be commercialized in Korea. Even the existing vertical farms are mainly for experimental purposes and are not very high in height. In addition, many plans to build commercial vertical farms have dematerialized. For example, the plan to construct a thirty-floor vertical farm in Cheongna, Incheon, by 2012 was in the news for a while in 2009. However, the plan has entirely fallen apart.
Exportation of Vertical FarmsNevertheless, Korea possesses the potential technology to build vertical farms. In fact, Korea has been exporting such technology to facilities and countries with harsh climates. For instance, the Rural Development Administration has sent a container, 5.9 in length and 2.4 in width to the King Sejong Station in Antarctica in January 2010. In the container, vegetables grow by the same principle as vertical farms. There are three vertical layers on
which vegetables trays lay, and also LED lighting to supplement the lighting inside. It produces one kilogram of vegetables every day. Thus, researchers now have access to fresh vegetables such as lettuce,
crown daisy, kale, and sprout vegetables. This has been possible due to 20 centimeter-thick urethane lining the inner walls.In addition, the Daegu Techno Park (Daegu TP) has signed a contract to export a vertical farm to the Opaskwayak Cree Nation (OCN), an autonomous Native American community in Canada in July. This vertical farm will be built in a high school covering 198 square centimeters. The contract states that if the vertical farm’s trial run is successful, they will sign a second contract which will provide more vertical farms to OCN. Located at 54 degrees north latitude, the extreme cold of minus 40 degrees Celsius lasts for six months. The Native Americans are exposed to obesity, diabetes, and vitamin deficiency diseases because they cannot consume fresh vegetables. However, thanks to the vertical farm, the problem of fresh produce can be solved. This has also proven to be highly lucrative for Daegu TP as well.Count r i e s in the Midd le East have also shown their interest in Korean vertical farm technology. An inspection team of 17 people from Kuwait Oil Company visited Gyeonggi-do Agricultural Research and Extension Service (GARES) to have a look at the small vertical farm it runs in May. They had questions on the types of plants, water culture methods, and investment costs. Recently, the governments of dry nations have been encouraging water culture, which uses far less water than traditional farming, to their farmers. Along with water culture, many features of vertical farms undoubtedly make them very attractive to those countries. Representatives of public enterprises and the governments of Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait are also planning to visit GARES.
Future Direction for KoreaAlthough these cases prove that Korea is capable of building and sustaining vertical farms, Korea has not put enough effort to popularize commercial vertical farms domestically. It is probably initial cost that is dragging down the process. However, many predict that the advantages of vertical farms could compensate for the cost in the long run. Furthermore, Korea has relatively small land. The mountain range stretching from north to south makes the ratio of arable land even smaller. Moreover, the demographical map of Korea shows an extreme density in major cities. All these factors support that Korea needs vertical farming which is profitable, efficient, and within close reach to its residents.
With the emergence of vertical farming, the concept of farmer and farming will go under a total shift. When we hear the word “farmer,” we think of a person out in the rural areas cultivating vast tracts of land with a hat and muddy boots on. In the near future, this concept of a farmer may change and describe a person who commutes to downtown every morning and grows vegetables in a white laboratory gown instead.
asiatoday.com
The exterior of the new vertical farm in Newark
The chief of OCN and the president of Daegu TP shaking hands after signing the contract
