this post was submitted on 13 Dec 2023
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Solarpunk Farming
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Farm all the things!
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because vertical farming is a hoax. best u could do is practice hydroponic farming: save about 90% of water usage. Otherwise farm footprint is farm footprint (plants need sufficient sunlight). plant LEDs consume 200w/m² for lighting, solar panel produce 200w/m² of electricity from sunshine. Leds/solar panels aren't efficient enough to allow vertical farming, its just (un)feasible under sunlight farming with extra steps
It's not unfeasible its just never going to have the high profit margins these companies keep pitching to VC's and banks. Farming is something that is done not because you make a huge profit from it but because you need food to survive.
Vertical farms fit in the niche for regions that have a significant population but have little water and large amount of arid land. They can allow for food to be grown closer to population centers and reduce the need for large water projects that are needed for irrigation farming. There is still going to be a need for irrigation farming for certain staple crops, but vertical farms can be used to grow certain fruiting vegetables and other leafy greens that would generally need a large amount of water in the same arid region.
Building a new food system is going to need vertical farms and other sustainable agriculture techniques, but it cannot be built on the same profit-for-profits sake economic system we currently have.
you need very cheap electricity to provide lighting for all those stacked plants. only 'gov' kind of money would allow such venture.
It was stupid for them to think that they could get the ridiculous profit margins that these firms where pitching them, but its not a stupid idea. As with any valid agricultural operation Gov is needed. USDA just allowed for crop insurance for vertical farming so there is hope for support on that front. I am working on developing a cheaper way to manufacture tower systems and for them to be recycled. I am born and raised in the American Southwest and we are already experiencing water shortages so I suspect local/state gov support is going to be put into place to subsidize power to vertical farming to make it more viable for farmers. We have lots of sun/wind out here but we don't have lots of water.
with renewables, you could run your own desalination station: and yea, vertical farming is nice but very cheap electricity is required for it to be reliable (even at 50$ per Mwh of solar, VF is yet to be profitable.
electricity should cost a fraction of that for the former to be worthwhile) (electricity would be needed to desalinate water, control the climate within the farm, and provide lighting for crops). People should also give up crypto mining and spare the grid enough energy to dedicate for crop farming. Also bitcoin (in particular) is an ecological disaster.