ruminations about architecture and design

Monday, September 4, 2017

tempered skepticism on indoor farming


Because it works in the Netherlands does not mean it will work everywhere. Such is the case with indoor agriculture--which is making considerable strides. It is a form of growing that makes sense for high value crops like lettuce, tomatoes, and marijuana. The excitement over this growing method will not translate into a feasible replacement for conventional farmland. Even if LED lighting continues to improve in efficiency and fall in price the intensive costs of indoor agriculture will not result in a proliferation of vertical urban farms. A metric that such a system cannot overcome is calorie units produced per acre per unit of cost. An examination of this would reveal that cattle grazing on the American plains are a cheap source of food. (The fact checking department at towers of ilium accepts challenges on this point).

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