Integrated Farming

INTEGRATED FARMINGMODULAR VERTICAL FARMING:

TEAM: ELIXIRS

MEMBER: RONIT SAHA

Content

Impending Disaster Solution Concept OF Vertical Farming Purpose Research Checkpoints Jargon Buster Advantage Factor Goals Scope Limitation Case Study Understanding the System

Energy Implication SWOT Analysis Integrated Vertical Farming

System Closed Loop Energy Generation Construction Materials Storage and Transport Waste Recycling Cost Estimation Profitability Conclusion Bibliography Reference

Impending Disaster By the year 2050, nearly 80% of the earth’s population will

reside in urban centers. Applying the most conservative estimates to current demographic trends, the human population will increase by about 3 billion people during the interim. An estimated 109 hectares of new land (about 20% more land than is represented by the country of Brazil) will be needed to grow enough food to feed them, if traditional farming practices continue as they are practiced today. At present, throughout the world, over 80% of the land that is suitable for raising crops is in use (sources: FAO and NASA). Historically, some 15% of that has been laid waste by poor management practices.

Solution ?

Concept of Vertical Farming As the world's population grows, so does the land

required to produce the needed food. The concept of a vertical farm was developed to remedy this crisis. A vertical farm is farms stacked on top of one another, instead of branching out horizontally. Developed in 1999 by Professor Dickson Despommier, the farm uses conventional farming methods such as hydroponics and aeroponics to produce more yields faster

Purpose

Vertical farming is the urban farming of fruits, vegetables, and grains, inside a building in a city or urban centre, in which floors are designed to accommodate certain crops. These heights will acts as the future farms land and as architects we can shape these high-rises to sow the seeds for the future. The objective of this presentation is to investigate the feasibility and plausibility of the vertical farming concept in specific and interrelated research domains.

Jargon Buster

Hydroponics is a subset of hydroculture and is a method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions, in water, without soil. Terrestrial plants may be grown with their roots in the mineral nutrient solution only or in an inert medium, such as perlite or gravel.

Aeroponics is the process of growing plants in an air or mist environment without the use of soil or an aggregate medium (known asgeoponics). Aeroponic culture differs from both conventional hydroponics, aquaponics, and in-vitro (plant tissue culture) growing. Unlike hydroponics, which uses a liquid nutrient solution as a growing medium and essential minerals to sustain plant growth; or aquaponics which uses water and fish waste, aeroponics is conducted without a growing medium. Because water is used in aeroponics to transmit nutrients, it is sometimes considered a type of hydroponics.

Advantage Factor

Increased and Year-round Crop Production. This farming technology can ensure crop production all year-round in non-tropical regions. 1 indoor acre is equivalent to 4-6 outdoor acres or more, depending on the crop. For strawberries, 1 indoor acre may produce yield equivalent to 30 acres.

Despommier suggests that a building 30 storeys high with a basal area of 5 acres (2.02 ha) has the potential of producing crop yield equivalent to 2,400 acres (971.2 ha) of traditional horizontal farming. Expressed in ratio, this means that 1 high-rise farm is equal to 480 traditional horizontal farms.

Furthermore, indoor farming will minimize infestation and post harvest spoilage.

Environment Friendly. Every land area that will be developed for this farming technology will reduce by a hundred fold the necessity of utilizing land for food production. These farms could be reverted to their natural state. This will promote the regrowth of trees which are effective in CO2 sequestration.

Growing crops indoor reduces or eliminates the use of mechanical plows, and other equipment, thus reducing the burning of fossil fuel. As a result, there will be a significant reduction in air pollution and CO2 emission that cause climatic change. Furthermore, CO2 emission will be reduced from shipping crops across continents and oceans. A healthier environment will be enhanced for both humans and animals.

Lesser disturbance to the land surface will also favor the increase in the population of animals that live in and around farmlands. Vertical farming therefore favors biodiversity.

Energy Conservation and Production. Selling of the crops in the same building in which they are grown will significantly reduce the consumption of fuel that is used in transporting the crops to the consumers.

Vertical farms can also generate power. Although a 30-story vertical farm needs 26 million kwh of electricity, it is capable of generating 56 million kwh through the use of biogas digesters and by capturing solar energy

Water Conservation and Recycling. According to Despommier, the vertical farming technology includes hydroponics which uses 70 percent lesser water than normal agriculture. Aeroponics will also be used which consumes 70 percent less water compared to hydroponics. Urban wastes like black water will be composted, recycled and used for farming inside the building. Sewage sludge will be converted to topsoil and processed for the extraction of water for agricultural use or drinking water.

Protection from Weather-related Problems. Because the crops will be grown under controlled environment, they will be safe from extreme weather occurences such as droughts and floods.

Organic Crops Production. The advantages of this urban farming technology can be further exploited by large scale production of organic crops. The controlled growing conditions will allow a reduction or total abandonment of the use of chemical pesticides.

Human Health Friendly. Indoor farms will reduce the occupational hazards associated with traditional, horizontal farming. Such risks include: accidents in handling farming equipment, exposure to infectious diseases like malaria, exposure to poisonous chemicals, and confrontations with poisonous or dangerous animals.

Goals • Supply sustainable food sources for urban centers. • Allow agro Land to revert to natural landscape. • Sustainable organic farming techniques. • Black/grey water remediation. • Appropriate unused and abandoned urban spaces. • End food contamination. • Year round food production. • End reliance on pesticides, herbicides and petro based

fertilizers. • Create sustainable urban space.

Scope 1. Reduction in vehicular transport is also foreseen; there will be less demand for delivery

trucks, garbage trucks and other utilities. 2. Overall wellness because city wastes will be channeled directly into the farm building's

recycling system, hence, less bacteria can find its way in the environment and the atmosphere.

3. Abandoned or unused properties will be used productively. 4. Water can be used more efficiently in a vertical farm. 5. The greywater from office etc can be used efficiently. 5. The layers of atmosphere can be used effectively in vertical build ups. 5. Less CO2 emissions and pollution by decreasing reliance on coal-burning power 6. Crops will be protected from harsh weather conditions and disturbances like typhoons,

hurricanes, floods, droughts, snow and the likes. Food production as well as food transport will not be affected.

7. Crops will be consumed immediately upon harvest since there is no need to transport them to far-off places. Spoilage will also be lessened.

8. The use of chemicals as pesticides will be eliminated; hence, even vector borne diseases can be prevented.

9. Less deforestation and land use, this means less erosion and less flooding.

Limitations 1. The initial phase will be cost intensive, and certain flaws integrated in the

system that may appear during its initial run can still dampen efforts for its full maximization.

2. There will be fewer varieties of foods to choose from because not all plants and vegetables are suitable in a controlled and limited environment.

3. The public will find it hard to reconcile with the idea of using black water for food production.

4. "Blackwater," or the wastewater and sludge from soils, from the vertical farms need an additional costly filtration system in order to be recycled and conservative of the water resources.

Displacement of agricultural societies, potential loss or displacement of traditional farming jobs.

Research Checkpoints Generation of energy on site of farming to make the entire

system carbon positive and completely sustainable Investigation of carbon footprints between conventional

farming and vertical farming The final research checkpoint question is to investigate how

relevant stakeholders perceive the concept of vertical farming and what they believe are current barriers and opportunities towards uptake of the technology.

The purpose of this investigation was to determine ways to supply food to cities in an energy efficient and sustainable manner from both a quantitative and qualitative approach.

Case Study

"Living Tower" by SOA Architects-Rennes, France

"The Eco-Laboratory" by: Weber Thompson

"Sky Green"-SIngapore

"Harvest Tower" by Romses Architects-Vancouver

Living Tower

The Living Tower, a theoretical 30 floor high rise farming community designed by Paris based SOA architects, would house: 130 apartments on the first 15 floors, 9000 square meters of office space on the remaining 15 floors, a 7000 square meter shopping center, a library and even a nursery in addition to the gardens distributed throughout the building.

Living Tower architects have focused on specific crop productions and believe the following estimates will represent respective crop yields:

63000 kg of tomatoes per year37 333 feet of salads per year9 324 kg of strawberries per year

The building design keeps efficiency and alternative power in mind as well: two large windmills rotating on the roof will generate 200-600 KWH of electricity per annum and will assist in pumping recovered rainwater throughout the complex. Photovoltaic panels will cover the outer walls while inside the tower, ventilation shafts draw in underground air keeping temperatures comfortable throughout the year.

Eco Laboratory

Sky Green

Patented vertical farming system Sky Greens patented vertical farming system consists of rotating tiers of growing

troughs mounted on a A-shape aluminium frame. The frame can be as high as 9 meter tall with 38 tiers of growing troughs, which can accommodate the different growing media of soil or hydroponics. The troughs rotate around the aluminium frame to ensure that the plants receive uniform sunlight, irrigation and nutrients as they pass through different points in the structure.

High yield When compare with traditional monolayer farms, the Sky Greens patented vertical

farming system intensifies land use and can result in at least 10 times more yield per unit land area.

High quality The structures are housed in a controlled environment which enables stringent

control of input materials to bring about food supply, food safety, food security and food quality assurances.

High flexibility Made of aluminium and steel, the modular structures are robust and yet highly

customisable and scalable. Structures can be tailor-made to suit different crops, growing media and natural conditions, even allowing cultivation on originally non-arable lands

Low energy use With the harnessing of natural sunlight, there is no need for artificial lighting.

Rotation is powered by a unique patented hydraulic water-driven system which utilises the momentum of flowing water and gravity to rotate the troughs. Only 40W electricity (equivalent to one light bulb) is needed to power one 9m tall tower.

Low water use With the plants irrigated and fertilised using a flooding method, there is no

need for a sprinkler system thereby eliminating electricity wastage, as well as water wastage due to run-offs. Only 0.5 litres of water is required to rotate the 1.7 ton vertical structure. The water is contained in a enclosed underground reservoir system and is recycled and reused.

Low maintenance Being housed in a protected environment ensures that the system can be

relatively maintenance-free and have low manpower dependency. The rotating troughs and intensified plant to plot ratio also mean high manpower efficiency.

Sky Greens is world’s first low carbon, hydraulic driven vertical farm. Using green urban solutions to achieve production of safe, fresh and delicious vegetables, using minimal land, water and energy resources. Sky Greens is the innovation hub of its holding company, Sky Urban Solutions Holding Pte Ltd, where continuous innovation in next generation of urban agriculture solutions take place.

Harvest Tower The concept of ‘harvest’ is explored in

the project through the vertical farming of vegetables, herbs, fruits, fish, egg laying chickens, and a boutique goat and sheep dairy facility. In addition, renewable energy will be harvested via green building design elements harnessing geothermal, wind and solar power. the buildings have photovoltaic glazing and incorporate small and large-scale wind turbines to turn the structure into solar and wind-farm infrastructure. In addition, vertical farming potentially adds energy back to the grid via methane generation from composting non-edible parts of plants and animals. furthermore, a large rainwater cistern terminates the top of the ‘harvest tower’ providing on-site irrigation for the numerous indoor and outdoor crops and roof gardens.

While the harvest green project supports the city mandate for compact mixed-use communities in and around transit hubs, it further enhances the mixed-use programming to include urban farming as a reaffirmation of the importance of the connection of food to our culture and daily life. In addition to food and energy harvesting, the proposal purposefully incorporates program uses for residential, transit, a largefarmers market and supermarket, office and agricultural research andeducational facilities, and food related retail/hospitality. The result will be a highly dynamic synergy of uses that compliment and support each other.

Understanding the System

Energy Implications

There are various other ways of energy generation technologies that can be applied, as well as several light transmission techniques such as light tubes and tunnels to channel light further into the building than direct sunlight allows. Currently the most promising technique for using the compost is by extracting the methane and then use cogeneration as a conversion technique.

By burning the methane electricity is generated as well as heat. The heat is then used for various tasks within the building itself and can provide neighboring buildings with heating and hot water as well. Even though burning would occur, this would be a carbon neutral solution since the carbon was sequestered by the growing plants in the first place in order for it to end up in the methane.

SWOT Analysis of Case Studies1)Living Tower

Strengths Healthier products (no

insects or need for pesticides)

Regulation of climate (more reliable production of products)

Use of renewable energies as power ( Wind and Sun )

No reliance on coal

Weakness Initial manufacturing

cost extremely high. Energy consumption is

quite high. Development of proper

technology is still a decade apart.

2)Eco-Laboratory

Strengths Less CO2 emissions and

pollution by decreasing reliance on coal-burning industries and transportation, and implementing renewable sources of energy

Water can be used more efficiently in a vertical farm as hydroponics only use fraction of ground water and water recycling is done in a closed loop

Weakness "Black water" or the

wastewater and sludge from soils, from the vertical farms need an additional costly filtration system in order to be recycled and conservative of the water resources.

Initial costs of designs and renewable energy is often unattractive to developers

3)Harvest Tower

Strengths The vertical farming of vegetables,

herbs, fruits, fish, egg laying chickens, and a boutique goat and sheep dairy facility

In addition, renewable energy will be harvested via green building design elements harnessing geothermal, wind and solar power.

In addition, vertical farming potentially adds energy back to the grid via methane generation from composting non-edible parts of plants and animals.

Weakness Initial cost of production not

lucrative to fund providers.

Design requires test run and pilot project trial.

Controlled environment is quite hypothetical.

4) Sky Green

Strengths Currently the one and only fully

functional and working model of vertical farming

Production of pure and organic vegetables and crops

Reduction on dependency upon import of vegetables and food from other internationals.

Novelty for countries where farm land are quite scarse

Weakness Initial cost of construction and

price of vegetables slightly higher than which is available in market.

Displacement of agricultural societies, potential loss or displacement of traditional farming jobs

Integrated Vertical Farming System Portable, light weight, renewable and lost cost storage

modules which could be built according to specific need and dismantled when not in use.

Modular design effective for transportation and lost cost maintenance. Reducing wastage of land and energy.

Running on Solar Energy, Wind Energy, Biogas and Piezoelectricity generating pads. Modular design will be carbon neutral.

Production of biofuels on site of agriculture will provide sufficient fuel to run generator to power pumps and motors.

Intial fuel production can be achieved by recycling plastic waste as the site will also serve the purpose of recycling waste plastic products.

Closed Loop Energy Generation. Collection of Municipal Solid Waste and applying process of

plasma incineration/gasification to produce Syn Gas. Purified Syn Gas can be feeded up to internal combustion

engine or boiler to boil steam for production of electricity. By products of plasma gasification like slug can be used

again as construction material. This system eliminates the hazards of landfill and MSW

incineration. Further more production of biochar from pyrolysis of farm

run off acts as nutrient medium. The entire system is sustainable and ecofriendly since

trapping of methane from compost again contributes to energy generation, thus making the system carbon positive.

Construction Material Greenhouse design can be constructed out of recycled plastic waste. The

plastic waste could be converted to Fiber Carbon and PMMA/ Acrylic Glass.

Hence mitigating the problem of plastic waste and landfill hazards.

Thus reducing cost of manufacturing as government funding is inevitable for cutting edge sustainable technology and thus reduction the usage of conventional construction materials.

Modular and pre-fabricated columns will be used for structural support which will also reduce manufacturing time and will drastically reduce cost.

On top of modular columns, fabricated modular panels made out of acrylic glass will be assembled. Thus completing the green house.

'A' shaped aluminum channel is required for trench creation. This trench will be covered with plastic buckets. Hydroponics will be used for plantation. Thus reducing land usage and water usage

Storage and Transport

The entire system is meant for reducing dependency on conventional farming and to support urban population.

According to specific requirements, Modular Cold Containers could be built for storage of harvest. Recycled plastic, molded in form of carbon fiber will be used as construction material.

Each vertical farm will have a supermarket where freshly grown vegetables will be sold to consumer, hence mitigating the transportation cost, fossil fuel consumption and long duration storage issues.

Under controlled environment the risk of crop loss is minimum and secondary benefit is that the centers will acts as research grounds for agriculture scientist.

Waste Recycling The agency responsible for solid waste management in Mumbai is

the Solid Waste Management Department (SWMD) of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) and its private contractors. The 2009-10 budget of the SWMD is Rs.10.6 billion (US$228 million), and is expected to increase to Rs.15.5 billion ($334 million) in 2010-11.

The municipal corporation spends roughly Rs.1160 per tonne ($25/tonne) on collection, transport, and disposal of MSW. Collection and transport together constitute roughly 80% of the cost. In India, the average municipal expenditure on solid waste management is Rs.500 to Rs.1500 per tonne ($10 to $32 per tonne).

This entire money is being wasted on simply land filling and incineration. The vertical farms will also act as an waste recycling center as the recycled products will be used for construction purposes.

Cost Estimation

Building Including Site= 111,5891994 Rupees

Equipment= 90,382,192 Rupees

Total Cost= 201,964,186 Rupees

Personnel= 2.050,000 Rupees

Power Demand= 5,390,941 Rupees

Plant Seeds= 44,406 Rupees

Nutrients= 424,919 Rupees

Fish Foods= 127,020 Rupees

Total Cost=8,037,286 Rupees

Interest Rates=3%

Profitability

The above mentioned price could be further reduced by

1) Subsidy from government

2) Public-Private Partnership

3) Selling 50% of the complex to other companies and generating revenue out of it.

4) Profit could be made from export of organic farm products.

5) The system will improve farmers live as it will eliminate the concept of middle-man

6) Most important of all development of renewable technologies will get a boost from a top.

The Future of Agriculture May Be Up-The Wall Street Journal I can see how things are grown and made and how the animals are

treated. Being knowledgeable about the food you eat is extremely important. Ignorance is no longer bliss when it comes to what goes into your food.

-- Scargosun

The locavore movement isn't just about getting food that is fresher, but also about supporting the local economy. It is "worth it" to keep our dollars and jobs within our community.

-- Carolyn Pearce

The long-term benefits for our environment, local economies and health far outweigh the expense and inconvenience. If more people start buying local then the cost will decline.

-- Ben Schaub

Conclusion

The report concludes as follows:

The urban hydroponics model of Vertical Farming is both presently realizable and profitable. The investment return is comparable to stock market averages.

Properly implemented renewable energy sources can significantly reduce utilities expenditures, justifying their initial capital cost.

Corporate and institutional investors are willing to finance Vertical Farming as a result of the operations significant secondary benefits.

Vertical Farming presents a unique investment opportunity as it aims to revolutionize our understanding of food production and urban development.

Bibliography

The Vertical Farm: Feeding the world in the 21st century-Dr Dickson Despommier

Vertical Farming by Gilbert Ellis Bailey

Charleston vertical farm design study-Clemson University Institute of applied ecology

The Economics of Vertical Farming- Chirantan Banerjee

Breathing High Rise- Kukku Joseph Jose

Converting Waste Plastic Into a Resource- UNEP

Anscombe, Jim as in Charles Mkoka, Unchecked Deforestation Endangers Malawi Ecosystems. Environment News Service. (2004, 16 November). Retrieved from Lester Brown's Plan 3.0B

Baillie, Jonathan, Georgina Mace, Hillary Masundire, et al. (2005) Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, Volume 1 - State and Trends Assessment, Chapter 4 - Biodiversity. Washington, D.C.: Island Press

Blackburn, Harvey W. & de Haan, Cornelius. (1999). Livestock and biodiversity. In Wanda W. Collins & Calvin O. Qualset, eds., Biodiversity in Agroecosystems. Washington, D.C.: CRC Press

Both, A.J. (1995). Dynamic simulation of supplemental lighting for greenhouse hydroponic lettuce production. Ph.D. Dissertation. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Libraries. p.172

Bourne, Joel K jr. Th e End of Plenty, (2009, June). National Geographic. p.26-5

Brown, A. Duncan. (2003). Feed or Feedback: Agriculture Population Dynamics and the State of the Planet. Tuross Head, NSW: International Books

Brown, Lester R. (2008). Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization. New York: Earth Policy Institute, W.W. Norton & Company.

Buringh, P. (1989). Availability of agricultural land for crops and livestock production. D. Pimental and C.W. Hall (eds.) Food and Natural Resources. San Diego: Academic Press, p.69-83

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