Mailing List
Sign up for updates in your city.
The Answer is Up
Submitted by Travis Craw on Wed, 07/23/2008 - 5:40pm.
As I zoomed across I-80 this weekend in a single shot from New York to Chicago and back, my mind drifted back and forth across the countless miles of corn and my gas meter, as all that 4 dollar gas dripped away. The big question in my mind was how the heck we were going keep shipping all this corn all the way to New York and California, not to mention shipping banana in refrigerated cars all the way from South America. The answer is not bringing the food to Manhattan but bringing the farms.
Vertical Farms are the way of the future, or so says Dr. Dickson Despommier who has been working on vertical farming technology for 10 years now. Take 35 acres of farmland, stack then into a precisely regulated farming skyscraper, and you have yourself a Vertical Farm. In fact an acre of vertical farmland is predicted to have 4-6 times greater output than a boring old acre of flat land. This is a big deal with a population slated to increase 3 billion, 80% of whom will be living in urbanized areas, by 2050. With ever increasing transport and fuel costs for farming our farming practices must evolve vertically if we are going to stop millions from starving and full nations worth of natural ecosystems laid waste by flat and fat farms.
Many designs have been published for these towering greenhouses, which can protect plants from irregular weather, pests and pesticides, recycle water, transform methane to energy, and provide a source for urban food and jobs, while leaving our battered world to recuperate a little. Still the notion as a few ominous sci-fi elements with the website describing them as a prerequisite for moon colonization and asking, “Don't our harvestable plants deserve the same level of comfort and protection that [people] now enjoy?” This may be the great green hope for agriculture but it is also implies a huge condensing of our food source and the complete stewardship of people creating a new ecosystem. Futuristic and yet surprisingly obvious, this is the thinking that will reshape both urban and rural landscapes, and could make some real change, leaving carbon offsets and the inefficiency of ethanol in the dust.
wow gold
wow leveling
hero online gold
last chaos gold
ragnarok zeny
ro zeny
rappelz rupee
rappelz gold
Silkroad gold
buy silkroad gold
SWG Credits
star wars galaxies credits
tales of pirates gold
age of conan
age of conan gold
aoc gold
aoc power leveling
aion gold
buy aion gold
anarchy online credits
anarchy online credit
archlord gold
buy archlord gold
City of Heroes Infamy
coh influence
City of Villains infamy
cov infamy
Gaia Online Gold
gaia gold
Gods and Heroes
gods and heroes gold
ge money
granado espada vis
granado espada gold
hellgate london palladium
Hero online gold
buy hero gold
Last Chaos Gold
buy Last Chaos Gold
gw gold
Guild Wars Gold
Lineage 2 adena
buy lineage 2 adena
Tales of Pirates Gold
Tales Of Pirates Online
rappelz rupee
rappelz gold
Hellgate London
hellgate london palladium
Second Life Linden
second life money
Vanguard money
Buy Vanguard Gold
Tabula Rasa Credit
tabula rasa credits
ffxi gil
Maple Story Mesos
wow gold
wow gold
age of conan gold
age of conan
age of conan power leveling
age conan gold
age of conan gold
age of conan power leveling
age conan gold
age of conan gold
age of conan power leveling
age conan gold
age of conan gold
age of conan power leveling
age conan gold
age of conan gold
age of conan power leveling
age conan gold
age of conan gold
age of conan power leveling
age conan gold
age of conan gold
age of conan power leveling
age conan gold
age of conan gold
aoc gold
age conan gold
age of conan power leveling
aoc power leveling
age conan gold
age of conan gold
aoc gold
aoc power leveling
buy Warhammer gold
Warhammer gold
Runescape Money
Runescape Gold
Runescape Items
Runescape Money
Runescape Gold
Runescape Power leveling
Runescape Money
Runescape Gold
Runescape gold
runescape money
Runescape Money
Runescape
Runescape Money
Runescape Power leveling
Runescape Items
runescape money
money runescape
Runescape Gold
age of conan gold
age conan gold
aoc gold
age of conan power leveling
aoc power leveling
aoc leveling
archlord gold
anarchy online credits
cabal alz
city of heroes influence
coh influence
city of heroes
city of villains infamy
cov infamy
city of villains
dofus kamas
kamas dofus
dofus
daoc gold
daoc plat
eve isk
eve online isk
eve online
everquest 2 gold
eq2 plat
Ever Quest 2
final fantasy xi gil
Final Fantasy XI
buy ffxi gil
final fantasy 11 cheap gil
gaia online gold
gaia gold
guild wars gold
gw gold
guild wars
hellgate london palladium
Hellgate London
dofus kamas
dofus gold
dofus
dofus kamas
dofus
wow gold
world of warcraft gold
buy wow gold
cheap wow gold
wow power leveling
eq plat
EverQuest gold
Maple Story Mesos
MapleStory mesos
MapleStory Meso
Maple Story meso
Maple Story Meso
maple Story Mesos
MapleStory mesos
Final Fantasy XI gil
ffxi gil
buy ffxi gil
dofus kamas
kamas dofus
lotro gold
lotr gold
lord of the ring gold
Lineage adena
Lineage 1 adena
Silkroad gold
buy silkroad gold
flyff penya
buy flyff gold
flyff money
eve online isk
eve isk
2moons dil
2moons gold
eq2 plat
EverQuest 2 gold
EverQuest 2 plat
Runescape gold
Runescape money
maplestory Mesos
MapleStory meso
maple story
Maple Story Mesos
maplestory Mesos
MapleStory meso
Maple Story
Lineage adena
Lineage 1 adena
Lineage 1
lotro gold
lotr gold
The Lord Of The Ring
lord of the ring gold
ge money
granado espada vis
granado espada gold
Granado Espada
data processing service
data processing
data process
data processing service
data processing
data process
data processing service
data processing
data process
dofus kamas
kamas dofus
buy kamas
dofus kamas
kamas dofus
buy kamas
dofus kamas
kamas dofus
buy kamas
dofus kamas
kamas dofus
buy kamas
dofus kamas
kamas dofus
buy kamas
The joyous Mid-Autumn Festival ffxi gilwas celebrated on the fifteenth day of theaoc gold eighth moon, around the time of the autumn equinox. Many referred to it simply as the "Fifteenth of the Eighth Moon".
This day was also wow goldconsidered as a harvest festival since fruits, vegetables maplestory mesosand grain had been harvested by this time and food was abundant. Food offerings were placed on an altar set up in the courtyard.
Apples, pears,maple story mesos peaches, grapes, pomegranates, melons, oranges and pomelos might be seen. Special foods for the festival included moon cakes, cooked taro and water caltrope, a
type of water chestnut resembling black buffalo horns. Some peoplemaple story meso insisted that cooked taro be included because at the time of creation, taro was the first food discovered at night in the moonlight. Of all
these foods, it couldwow gold not be omitted from the Mid-Autumn Festival.The round moon cakes, measuring about three inches inaoc gold diameter and one and a half inches in thickness, resembled Western fruitcakes in taste
and consistency. These cakes were made wow goldwith melon seeds, lotus seeds, almonds, minced meats, bean paste, orange peels and lard. A golden yolk from a salted duck egg was
placed at the wow goldcenter of each cake, and the golden brown crust was decorated with symbols of the festival. Traditionally, thirteen moon cakes were piled in a pyramid to symbolize the thirteen moons of a "complete
year," that is, twelve moons plus one intercalary moon. The Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional wow goldfestivity for both the Han and minority nationalities. The custom of worshipping the moon can be traced
World of Warcraft has many strengths as a game. buy wow gold and one of its most lecteur mp3famous qualities is how mp4 playeraddictive it is. cheap wow goldIt is one of the most mp3enthralling games around there is mp4an element to it that just grips sell wow goldyou and makes it difficult to stop playing. mp4 playerAs a result, the game is a truly mp3fascinating experience, buy cheap wow goldand many people have become hooked mp4on the fantasy world of Azeroth. mp4 playerPeople tend to play World of Warcraft buy world of warcraft goldfor long periods of time. mp3The game has an internal clock mp4and through that you can calculate gold wowhow long you have been playing it for, wow gold kaufin hours and days. wowgoldA typical player of online games wow pomight spend around 24 hours per week online. wow powerleveling World of Warcraft is so compelling wow powerleveling that some people play 24 hours in one session. power levelingPlayers become so mesmerised powerlevelingwith the game that they just keep going, wow power levelingand can spend an entire day inside its world.
Another world, perhaps. world of warcraft power leveling that lies somewhere within mp3 playersthe bowels of the supreme mp3 playerand most perilous of cheap wow power levelingthe planes of existence. mp3 playersThis dominion of chaos intrudes, mp3 player permeates and penetrates cheap world of warcraft power levelingall matter and all realms. mp3 playersNothing escapes its influence, mp3 playerhowever miniscule its force or level wowunnoticed its presence. wow poThis is the realm of the Twisting Nether, or wowthe damned origin of the arcane . wow lvl and of countless other wow frmagics creatures and worlds. mp4 player overseeing perspective of one most mighty, level wow the Nether appears as both cheap mp3 playersperfectly shaped and ill defined, cheap mp3 player all in the same blink of an eye. wow lvlThe chaotic realm is neither mp3 mp4 playerspherical nor square . flat nor round, portabel mp3 playerit resides around and within wow powerlevelall of the matter that the Titans created. mp3 player In time long past, one of those beings was mp3 playersconsecrated with that very opportunity.
Nebulous clouds of magical mists. wow gold and streams of blinding wow goldlight soar across the Nether, expanse. wow gold kaufen Hidden within and between world of warcraft goldthese massive cosmicwow geld artifacts are the endless stars wow powerleveland worlds of all forms of life. wow goldWitnessed from afar, wow the innumerable cosmic bodies appearwow gold as diminutive flickers of light against wow gold kaufenthe backdrop of the Nether serveur wowand the Great Dark Beyond. wow europe The glistening light emanatingwow from the ensemble of the worlds, wow power leveling energies reflect within the great wow powerlevelingcosmic clouds of the Nether, wow gold resulting in radiance mp3 playersboth heavenly and damned mp3 playerin its awesome appearance.wow gold paypal This illuminated performance mp3 playerof perfect orchestration would zubehoer mp3 playerimpress any sentient being wow power levelingbeyond their imagination, mp3if only they were blessed with the mp4ability to observe from such an immeasurable distance.
free online games
play war games
free online war games
online games
war hero online
Did you forget that it takes more energy to run a green house than it does to ship produce? Carbon footprint is an all-encompassing including the construction cost of the vertical green house.
Disney had an example of a vertical greenhouse in Tomorrow Land which showed bare root produce held in suspension as the chemicals were sprayed on the root zone and the fungicides were applied to the leaves. In a controlled atmosphere disease runs rampant since there is no competing bacteria to keep infestations in check.
Since chemicals are derived from petroleum the cost of such an endeavor will closely follow the cost of energy. When the cost of energy goes down the cost of running a vertical greenhouse will not keep up with the lower cost of transportation.
If energy cost continue to rise the cost of operating these urban grow houses will become prohibitive.
There are no easy answers but one is to kill the grain based ethanol program, which the UN has stated that 70% of the rise in food cost comes from grain based biofuels.
Organic George,
I have not seen you for a while. You were not missed but I do agree about the disaster that ethanol is. As for your other points, these vertical farms would not use energy the way you describe.
I by no means am trying to imply that this is a flawless or even tested system. I agree that the dense packing of our food source into a purely human controlled environment causes a great concern about disease. I think that this sort of thinking avoids seeing human consumption as essentially unsustainable, however it is the sort of progressive thought which seeks to radically rethink the way we do things rather than trying to salvage our system with technologies as inefficient and dangerous as ethanol.
I do not doubt your statement on the carbon foot print of a greenhouse, but I would like to see where you found that statistic for my own edification. In addition to building and maintenance costs, one must also consider the cost of the loss of natural forests to farm land. If population continues to grow at its current rate, modest estimates have our species leveling off at 9 billion people, which would require a vast increase in farm land, an amount which may not even exist on the earths surface, and at a price undoubtedly to great for this planet to withstand. In truth the answer must be a combination of progressive technologies, conservation, and sacrifice.
Post new comment