this post was submitted on 27 Sep 2024
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Futurology
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I don't see how vertical farming can make sense. There is only so much sunlight striking the ground and you just changed the angle and so shaded something else.
Artificial lighting exists.
Sure, but where does the energy for that light come from? If the answer is burning things (this is the most likely answer today!) then you are making the world worse. Renewable answers all go back to the sun so why not use the sun directly and avoid all the inefficiencies from turning the sun into electric and then back into light? Which leaves nuclear - which is dieing because of expense.
Yes, it can come from renewables. There are many ways to build renewables in a way that doesn’t use additional surface area. Like you can have wild nature with wind turbines sprinkled throughout. Solar panels can built on top of most structures humans build anyway.
Vertical farming has the potential to use less land, allowing more wild natural ecosystems.
The controlled environment of vertical farming also allows you to work in a cleaner environment, meaning less need to employ pesticides.
We can also do agrifarming and use the space under the panels for animals to graze or whatever else they've come up with.