Scientists have discovered that adjusting the environmental conditions of indoor vertical farms using sensors and modeling could be the key to securing our global food supply amid rapid population growth.
An international team of researchers investigated how to make vertical farming systems more efficient and less energy-intensive to boost yields. According to a summary of the study by Frontiers, we may need to ramp up food production by up to 70% by midcentury.
As Frontiers explained, vertical farms "could be part of the answer" to achieving that goal, but they're currently expensive and difficult to scale because they use so much electricity. However, scientists have found that adjusting light in vertical farms based on the requirements of specific plants could make these farms of the future more cost-effective.
"The biggest benefit of vertical farming systems is that healthy food can be grown much more closely to consumers in places where this is impossible otherwise: in mega-cities, in deserts, and in places that are cold and dark during large parts of the year," said Dr. Elias Kaiser, first author of the study, which was published in Frontiers in Science.
The largest hurdle to overcome in implementing vertical farms on a mass scale is that they operate in static environmental conditions, which increases electricity costs. However, scientists said that manipulating the variables that affect plant growth — such as carbon dioxide levels, temperature fluctuations, and light wavelengths — could make indoor farms cheaper to run and produce more robust crops.
Lighting is perhaps the most important variable since plants rely on it for photosynthesis. Scientists say this variable also holds the key to increasing the efficiency of vertical farming operations.
"Fluctuations in electricity prices can be used to the advantage of vertical farming systems, by using more electricity when it is cheaper," explained Marcelis.
In addition, the team believes smart lighting could be another tool to reduce energy costs. Their model showed that by adjusting light intensity using an optimization algorithm, electricity costs could be cut by 12% without impacting plant development.
But before vertical farming can feed the planet, other important issues need to be addressed, according to scientists. For example, they said that manipulating air flow rates, carbon dioxide levels, and indoor temperatures using advanced sensors and models could help lower electricity costs even more.
The team noted that more research is necessary to understand which variables correlate with higher yields and which result in better-quality crops.
"In a vertical farm all growth conditions can be exactly controlled, which is very important to optimize yield, quality, and resource use efficiency," said Marcelis. "Once dynamic environmental control has become established, both the energy use and costs of the used energy can be substantially reduced, increasing the profitability and sustainability of vertical farms."
Vertical farming is already transforming how we grow food and even making waves in mussel and oyster production with vertical ocean farms. As farming technologies develop, we can expect them to bear fruit in the form of higher-quality, cheaper food and a cleaner planet.
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