Role of Vertical Farming in Reducing Environmental Impact

Role of Vertical Farming in Reducing Environmental Impact

By: Samuel Shay June, 2022

Conventional agriculture is one of the most significant sources of greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for 25% of all man-made greenhouse gas emissions. Vertical farming is a breath of fresh air for this essential industry, as it allows for the production of a wide range of crops while minimizing environmental impact. However, despite its helpful function in reducing agriculture's disastrous consequences on biodiversity and ecosystems, vertical farming also has a negative side. Let's take a closer look at the environmental benefits and drawbacks of vertical farming.

Vertical Farming Factors with Positive Impact on the Environment

Vertical farming has been successful in achieving high production rates while reducing the use of natural resources.

Ø Requires Less Water

Ø Agriculture uses 70 percent to 80 percent of the world's freshwater, accounting for 70 percent to 80 percent of worldwide freshwater withdrawals. With over 2 billion people affected by water scarcity around the world, it is more critical than ever for agriculture to minimize its water use. Water use has been reduced by 95 percent, and in certain cases, by 99 percent, thanks to vertical farming. To put this in perspective, one kilogram of tomatoes requires 60 to 200 liters of water in the fields of Southern Europe. In a vertical farm, the same amount of tomatoes can be grown with only 2 to 4 liters of water.

Ø Requires Less Land

On vertical farms, crops are planted vertically and piled on top of one another, reducing land use, maximizing space, and increasing productivity per unit area. 

Because of that, vertical farms have the potential to deal with some of the most pressing challenges posed by conventional agriculture:

Ø Deforestation 

Ø Biodiversity loss. 

Ø Removes the Need for Long Transportation of Produce

Ø Food demand has increased in many metropolitan areas as a result of urbanization. Food nowadays travels thousands of kilometers before reaching supermarket shelves. From field to fork in the United States, lettuce travels 2,055 miles (3,307 kilometers). Foodstuffs utilize a lot of fossil fuels and release a lot of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere when they are carried across long distances. Vertical farms, on the other hand, are frequently built in abandoned factories or warehouses near urban areas. Customers can acquire vegetables and herbs grown on these farms in a matter of hours. Food loss due to produce mishandling and spoiling is also reduced by short distances between vertical farms and markets/stores.

Ø Don’t Use Pesticides and Preservatives in the Supply Food Chain

Plants are grown in a controlled, enclosed environment in vertical farms. As a result, there are no pests, and pesticide application is no longer necessary. To prevent spoiling, perishable goods are typically treated with preservatives and other chemicals before being transported. Vertical items eliminate the need for conservation agents because they are not transported over large distances and arrive in stores within a few days.

Vertical Farming Factors with Negative Impact on the Environment

Unfortunately, as with any other agricultural practice, vertical farming also has some adverse environmental effects, which have to be addressed in the future.

Ø Requires a Lot of Equipment

Setting up a well-functioning vertical farm is undoubtedly the most challenging part of the process for many entrepreneurs and farmers. Typically, vertical farms require a lot of equipment to function properly. Some of the most important ones include 

·          LED lights, 

·          air humidifiers, 

·          air dryers, 

·          air conditioning,

·          water purification systems, 

·          automation systems, 

·          computers, 

·          sensors,

·          webcams. 

Vertical Farming: Under Climate Change Effect

People's daily lives are altering as the effects of climate change worsen. People sought to follow the measures, such as staying at home, during the historic Covid-19 pandemic episode. This type of protection reduced CO2 gas emissions by 17%, bringing the world's gas emissions back to 2006 levels. Without the intervention of humans, the air became more breathable, and nature began to mend itself. Feeding this growing population has become a different issue as the population expands. Because more agriculture was required for increased nutrition, people began to destroy forest areas. This devastation, of course, had a direct impact on climate change. Humanity once again realized that it needed to evolve in tandem with nature rather than in opposition to it. This eye-opening experience will compel individuals to take immediate action in response to climate change. Despite the fact that agriculture produces relatively little emissions, due to its strategic location, it must reinvent itself through new technology. Vertical farming is a viable option for this conversion process. This chapter covers a wide range of vertical farming techniques. Hydroponic, aeroponic, and aquaponic systems are among the cultivation methods discussed. For vertical farming under climate influences, energy and water consumption, yield, and scalability factors are investigated.

Can vertical farming reduce agriculture’s impact on climate change?

Over half of the world's population lives in cities, and by the middle of this century, that number is expected to climb to two-thirds. The rise of urbanization has pushed people further away from food sources, lengthening the food supply chain. More consumers are moving their food sources further away, raising concerns about agriculture's influence on climate change, in particular:

• Transportation: food supply chains are lengthening, increasing the number of food-miles, and hence, transportation emissions.
• Water consumption: centrally, mass-produced agriculture exacerbates water consumption in communities near the beginning of the supply chain.
• Preservatives and chemicals: for food to survive in a lengthened supply chain, preservatives are used, which can harm the environment. Not only does mass-agriculture have a negative impact on climate change, climate change also has a negative impact on agriculture productivity.

GOALS

Short-Term

Hydroponic vertical farming as an urban food supply solution has only been established for a few decades, so there is still plenty of space for innovation and system optimization. Plenty's mission over the next two years is to test, enhance, and optimize growing methods in order to make urban vertical farming feasible and cost-effective. Plenty is focusing on the following to compete with organic, local, and other premium produce products:

• Product Innovation: Plenty is working to create tasty products that can command a price premium.
• Business Viability: Plenty has set an ambitious goal of constructing a vertical farm near each major city on the planet. To do so, they must demonstrate the financial viability of vertical farming. They want to maximize the use of fixed assets while lowering variable costs. Plenty is attempting to establish economies of scale by building relationships with suppliers and customers that can be used across a network of farms in order to reduce expenses for a multi-farm network.

Medium-Term / Long-Term

In the medium and long-term, Plenty wants to build a vertical farm near every large city with at least 1 million residents. Plenty’s goal is to find urban real estate just outside of large cities near food distribution networks to reduce required transit miles.

Other areas of focus

In comparison to other forms of agriculture, consumers are less familiar with the concept of food farmed in an indoor warehouse. Plenty will still need to build consumer demand for their products even if they achieve in establishing the notion in terms of production innovation and cost efficiency. As a pioneer in this field, I urge that they take the lead in teaching the general public (particularly in metropolitan areas) about the advantages of vertical farming. Plenty, for example, might put on a roadshow to educate major future consumers (such as Whole Foods) about the environmental and health benefits of vertical farming.

Hydroponic farming could help combat climate change and food insecurity

According to the World Resources Institute, as the global population approaches 10 billion by 2050, overall food demand is predicted to rise by more than 50%. In some areas, climate change will make feeding that population more challenging.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, increased heat stress, rainfall intensity, flooding, and drought might lower crop yields and render formerly productive land useless, resulting in food insecurity. Some farmers and scientists have suggested that hydroponics, a type of vertical farming, could help them grow more food with less area.

Hydroponic farming eliminates the need for soil by suspending plants in a water solution containing all of the essential nutrients required for plant growth. Instead of taking up acres of fertile ground, plants can be stacked on top of one another in a climate-controlled greenhouse practically everywhere. "As children, we are taught that soil serves a variety of functions. "It stabilizes the plant, offers nutrients to the plant, and it supplies water to the plant," explained Lee Rouse, a former horticulture extension agent at Louisiana State University Agricultural Center. "However, it's worth noting that none of this is accurate. To perform any of that, you don't need soil."

Hydroponics vs. Traditional Farming

"At first, [hydroponics] was employed by scientists who were trying to figure out what ingredients were necessary for plants to grow. "We now know that every plant on the planet requires 16 key nutrients to survive from seed to seed, generation to generation," Rouse added.

Rouse would discuss the complexities of the vertical farming systems he has used to cultivate foods ranging from lush greens like lettuce and basil to fruits like strawberries at his hydroponic field days. He envisions a future in which abandoned buildings might be repurposed for a more effective use using hydroponics.

"If you take that building and instead of turning it into a hotel, you take one acre of land, 20 storeys tall, and now you can produce 20 acres of food on it without actually deforesting 20 acres," he remarked. "Since it would take 20 acres of flat land to produce the same amount of food, why don't we just reforest?" It's possible that this will have a long-term impact on carbon emissions."

Another advantage of hydroponics is the capacity to grow more food in a smaller area while reducing the amount of supplies that must be transported. Carbon emissions from vehicles burning fossil fuels are produced during the transportation of food commodities.

"This idea of localization of food product is the great mitigation possibility that a lot of people are focusing on," said Robert Newell, associate director of the Food and Agriculture Institute at the University of the Fraser Valley in British Columbia, Canada. "Reducing transportation distances reduces the demand for greenhouse gas emissions," says the author.

Newell is investigating the possibility of producing animal feed by growing plants on a mesh platform and delivering nutrients via a sprinkling system.

"You're growing more biomass with a minimal land footprint," he said, adding that localizing food production with hydroponics might help offset shipping expenses.

“You’re getting more bang for your buck,” he said. “What it translates to is, rather than having to transport two trucks of material, you transport fewer.”  

The Role of Hydroponics in the Agriculture/Climate Change Nexus

Vertical Hydroponic Farming is changing how we produce food for the better and is addressing the consequences of climate change in the process.

Temperatures in the Southeast have climbed roughly 2 degrees Fahrenheit since 1970, with higher temperatures seen during the summer months (National Climate Assessment, 2014). Drought and flooding disasters reduce agricultural output, and the seemingly tiny increase in temperature poses a dangerous combination of dangers. Extreme weather occurrences, such as breaking heat, rainfall, and drought records, have become more common in Florida. The average temperature in Florida is expected to rise 3 to 7 degrees Fahrenheit over the next 100 years, with the nation's most extreme summer heat index rising 10 to 25 degrees Fahrenheit.

How can a vertical hydroponic farm can make a positive impact in feeding the world in the face of severe climate change consequences?

Flooding

During periods of heavy rain, Florida confronts a heightened risk of inland flooding, particularly in low-lying coastal areas like the Miami area. Urban Oasis Hydroponic Farm features a vertical tower growing system with stackable planting pots that is roughly 3 feet off the ground. Our land is situated on a slope that drains into a wetland close to the farm. We are flooded for half of the year, from a few inches to water up to our knees. The crops would never survive on a regular in-ground farm, but they never do in ours since there is never any standing water.

Drought 

With the majority of Florida's water coming from the north and the majority of demand coming from the south, the state already faces chronic water shortages. Increased fresh-water shortages are projected in 96 percent of counties as a result of climate change, which would inevitably affect agricultural production in the state. The Tampa Bay region's water supplies have dwindled to dangerously low levels, requiring inhabitants to take new, more stringent measures while utilizing water (St. Pete Times, 2010). Despite the plans for future water supplies, it appears that water scarcity will remain a major issue in the Tampa Bay region due to the growing population and increasingly dry seasons (St. Pete Times, 2009). Drip irrigation systems, such as the one we use at Urban Oasis Hydroponic Farm, use water to irrigate plants  one-tenth of the water required by traditional agriculture. This is a huge win for the water supply as it stands, but is an even greater advantage in the presence of fresh-water shortages. 

Fossil Fuels/Carbon

Vertical hydroponics is a labor-intensive and man-powered method of growing plants. This task cannot be done by tractors or combines, which implies that no fossil fuels are needed on these farms. Furthermore, Urban Oasis Hydroponic Farm does not ship its products throughout the United States or the world. We, like other small and urban farms, serve the local community. As a result, food miles are greatly reduced, resulting in lower fuel consumption, more energy saving, and fresher carbon-neutral food.

The hydroponics era is only getting started. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of different types of hydroponic farming, and none of them are perfect. To meet food demand in the face of climate change, we need more local, urban, high-tech/new-tech farms. The best part is that getting involved in the food revolution is as simple as buying local and/or growing your own food! It could begin with you.