Vertical Farming - Cornell Controlled Environment Agriculture

45 Pages·2012·1.92 MB·English

V G
e r
And Plant Factories
r e
t e
i n
c h
a o
l u
Is the Emperor wearing
s
any
new clothes???
e
s

UK International Greenhouse Conference
Lou Albright, Professor Emeritus
Biological and Environmental Engineering
Cornell University
www.cornellcea.com
Various proposals related to hi-tech agriculture have been
frequently based on growing food crops with no natural light, or
very little natural light.

Plant factories and vertical greenhouses are today’s examples.
The current
handbook of
vertical farms
and closed food
production
systems
“… we know how to proceed – we can apply
hydroponic and aeroponic farming
methodologies in a multistory building and
create the world’s first vertical farms.”
Dr. Dickson Despommier
The current
handbook of
vertical farms
and closed food
production
systems
However, the author acknowledges that…..

“No ecosystem can exceed the limits of
biomass production, which is strictly limited by
the total amount of incoming energy, period.”
The current
handbook of
vertical farms
and closed food
production
systems
However, the author acknowledges that…..

“No ecosystem can exceed the limits of
biomass production, which is strictly limited by
the total amount of incoming energy, period.”
The current
handbook of
vertical farms
and closed food
production
systems
For many people, rivers of doubt
overflow their banks about providing
sufficient photosynthetic energy in a
closed system.
The current
handbook of
vertical farms
and closed food
production
systems
The easiest doubt to tackle is to examine the list
of suggested potential crops, which includes:

Greens and herbs
Vine crops
Small fruits
Wheat, corn, rice, other commodities…
The current
handbook of
vertical farms
and closed food
production
systems
Let’s first examine the claim that crops such
as wheat are possible and farmland can be
returned to its primordial state.

Economic viability of CEA wheat production is
one metric that comes to mind.
Useful engineering analysis process
engineering
analysis
reality checks
reasonability
limit checks
checks
what sales
etc etc etc income can be
expected?
The world record for outdoor wheat production was
set in 2010 in New Zealand with 1.567 kg m-2