Vertical Farms vs Greenhouses: Energy and LED Costs And Differences [Part 2 of 5]

Part 2 of 5] This is the second post in a 5-part series on the differences between vertical farms and greenhouses, and the considerations that will help farming entrepreneurs decide which is right for their situation.

Last week, in the first article of this series, we discussed the basic differences between vertical farms and greenhouses, including why location is such an important factor in the decision. In short: The location of a farm governs how much space will be available for it, and the source of the energy it will use.

That last part is what you might call “the elephant in the room” when it comes to indoor farming: Energy demand, and the main reason we care about it – carbon emissions. So let’s talk about that today.

Carbon Footprint Factors: Electricity (But Not Only)

One of the leading critiques of vertical farming is that replacing natural sunlight and open-air with LED bulbs and climate control requires electricity – lots of it.

“If the source of the energy is not renewable,” points out Henry Gordon-Smith, the CEO of Agritecture, an independent consultancy that helps clients decide between vertical farms and greenhouses, “Then vertical farms have enormously more carbon footprint than greenhouses.”

But the opposite is also true – where renewables are available, vertical farming can greatly reduce the carbon footprint of foods that are normally trucked long distances, or flown in from overseas.

For example, “Norway could be huge for vertical farming, because they just have so much cheap, renewable energy,” Gordon-Smith suggested.

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When you tally the emissions reductions from shorter transport distances, the reduction in fertilizer use (fertilizer production is highly carbon-intense, and Controlled Environment Agriculture uses it much more efficiently than outdoor farms), plus the reduction in food waste, it’s clear that artificial light and conditioned air inside vertical farms are not the only carbon footprint factors to consider.

Bringing the Sun Indoors: Changing Electricity Costs for Farms

Lighting is one of the biggest expenses for a vertical farm, for obvious reasons – each layer in the farm needs its own LED “suns.” Agritecture Designer, a consulting software created by Gordon-Smith’s company, estimates the need at roughly 10 LEDs per square meter.

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That’s a useful figure to get started, but given the variability between types of LEDs, a more precise estimate would be about 100 watts of LED power per square meter, according to Gus van der Feltz, another CEA industry expert. Van der Feltz is a co-founder and Board Member of Farmtech Society in Belgium, and project leader for Fieldlab Vertical Farming in the Netherlands.

With these lamps operating 12 to 18 hours a day in most vertical farms, the power usage from LEDs accounts for 50 to 65% of the electricity bill.

The exact amount depends on several factors: The relative efficiency of the LEDs used, compared with the efficiency of other systems in the farm (such as climate control), as well as the light requirements of each individual crop. (For example, the total electricity required for growing light-loving strawberries in an iFarm, for example, is about 117 kWh per month for each square meter of growing space, while arugula needs only about 52 kWh.)

But whether you opt for a greenhouse or a vertical farm, you’ll be growing local produce, which means your farm may be eligible for subsidies or another form of reduced electricity rate. Be sure to check with your local government and electricity providers.

It’s also important to note that greenhouses increasingly rely on LEDs as well, especially during winter in northern climates.

This may be only supplemental light, and it will vary with the location, seasonality, and how much light each crop requires – but greenhouses are still not as energy-intensive as vertical farms.

“It takes a lot of energy to produce food (with vertical farms),” says Ramin Ebrahimnejad, vice-chair of the Association for Vertical Farming, and an expert on multiple types of urban farming.

“But,” he adds, “most vertical farms in the developed world already use renewable energy. In the long term, that’s not going to be a challenge for the industry”.

As our electricity sources become more renewable (and as LED technology improves, as we’ll discuss below) energy-intense vertical farming will become both more sustainable – less carbon-intense – and more affordable.

And we can see this evolution happening in real-time: In 2020, Europe produced more electricity from renewables than from fossil fuels for the first time.

The Cost of LEDs for Vertical Farms vs Greenhouses

LEDs themselves are another major OpEx factor in vertical farming. And even though the cost per bulb varies widely, along with the efficiency, the LEDs in a vertical farm generally have to be replaced every five to 10 years, according to the Agritecture Designer software.

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However, just as the cost and carbon footprint of electricity are becoming less of a hurdle for indoor farms, the LED situation is also evolving quickly.

An idea that’s become a modern certainty is that technology gets cheaper over time. As the environmental economist William Nordhaus studied in the 1990s, the declining cost of light over the centuries – from candles, to oil lamps, to ever-more-efficient light bulbs – has been changing the world and fueling innovation for millennia.

Something similar is happening with LEDs – up to a point. Moore’s Law famously predicted computing power doubling every year, and Haitz’s Law now forecasts that the cost per lumen for LED light will fall by a factor of 10 each decade, while the light produced increases 20-fold.

However, as Van der Feltz points out, this cannot continue forever and is more limited by the laws of physics than Moore’s Law. Currently, a well-designed horticultural LED system can be up to about 55% efficient – meaning 55% of the energy put in becomes photons, which plants use to grow, and 45% becomes heat. Fifty-five percent efficiency is already impressive when compared with incandescent light bulbs, for example, where energy input produces 5% light and 95% heat.

But still, for the purpose of CEA and especially in vertical farms, the remaining 45% of the energy that becomes heat is often – though not always – useless.

“In greenhouses,” Van der Feltz explains, “the additional heat is typically not all bad. Especially since auxiliary greenhouse lighting is mostly used in the darker and cooler winter months, and there are usually plenty of options for ventilation in case it gets too warm.”

But vertical farms heat up quickly, and as closed systems where opening a window is not an option, any extra heat from LEDs must be balanced with air conditioning or creatively repurposed. Van der Feltz says some indoor farms have been designed to divert excess heat to warm an adjacent building, for example.

So LED performance can still improve marginally, but not exponentially. Van der Feltz says experts estimate that another 25% efficiency improvement is possible, but LEDs will never be able to produce light energy out of thin air.

Whatever the limits of Haitz’s Law, it’s still true that while electricity and LED light bulbs are the most expensive part of a vertical farm today, they’re also the area where improvement is most imminent. (Innovation, and the laws of supply and demand, are constantly bringing down the costs of both, regardless of how much efficiency improvement is still technologically possible.) So operating a vertical farm should still become increasingly affordable over time.

Improved technology and reduced costs for LEDs are especially good news for the potential to grow even more crops in vertical farms, as different plants use different parts of the light spectrum.

iFarm is already a leader in the industry when it comes to research and development for expanding the crop selection available to vertical farmers. As LED technology improves, we’ll be able to take those efforts even further.

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Other Energy Costs: Climate Control Needs in Vertical Farms vs. Greenhouses

The high energy costs of lighting a vertical farm are obvious, but the demands of climate control are often not as clear.

Since vertical farms are closed systems, with little to no air exchanged with the outside, they must be constantly cooled and dehumidified. About 20% of the electricity used on a vertical farm is for air conditioning, while dehumidifiers account for 10%.

The need for both of these increases with each layer added to a vertical farm, in order to counter the effects of plants transpiring and increasing the heat and humidity of the system.

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In temperate regions, greenhouses can save energy by using natural ventilation, as the Agritecture Designer program explains: Sidewalls can roll up to allow cool air in, while hot air escapes through vents at the top of the greenhouse. Greenhouses can also opt for an evaporative cooling system, which is still more energy efficient than a fully climate-controlled system but does add humidity – another element to be controlled.

But it’s also important to remember that greenhouses are more sensitive to outside temperatures, and therefore, the operational expenses of climate control and/or the time needed for crops to mature will vary more than they will with vertical farms – especially in cold, Northern climates.

Next, in Part 3, we’ll discuss additional cost considerations for vertical farms and greenhouses, beyond electricity.

To learn more about starting a profitable vertical farming business, reach out to our friendly team at iFarm today!

Learn more

09.03.2021

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VIDEO: Signify Celebrates Five Years Anniversary of GrowWise Research Center

Five Years of Feeding Tomorrow’s Cities

Ellis Janssen, Director city farming at Signify explains: “At the GrowWise Center, we believe in vertical farming. Over the past five years, we have helped hundreds of entrepreneurs and pioneers all over the world discover how they can feed tomorrow’s cities and grow plants faster, in a more sustainable way."

Jarno Mooren, Signify's plant specialist vertical farming with tomato crops cultivated at the GrowWise Center

"We work closely with our customers and partners, looking at all aspects of the business case: whatever a grower’s needs are, we can translate them into a dedicated recipe for growth. To achieve this, our team of plant specialists, application engineers and key account managers look at the most important aspects that determine the set-up of a farm so they can give the grower dedicated advice in making the best decisions," Ellis states.

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Ellis Jansen, director of city farming at Signify

She adds, "We have learned a lot over the past five years, and as we are evolving our customers are evolving as well. They want the best solutions for their specific needs. At the GrowWise Center, we support them wherever we can. The world continues to change, and we will change along with it. Through this all, and by combining the latest technology, business insights and plant expertise, we can help growers make their business successful and future-proof."

Jarno in between strawberry crops

"At the GrowWise Center, we are proud of all that has been accomplished in vertical farming over the past five years, and we are excited to see where we can take the dreams and ambitions in vertical farming in the future," Ellis notes.

Global Marcom Manager Horticulture at Signify

Daniela Damoiseaux

Tel: +31 6 31 65 29 69

E-mail: daniela.damoiseaux@signify.com

www.philips.com/horti

About Signify

Signify (Euronext: LIGHT) is the world leader in lighting for professionals and consumers and lighting for the Internet of Things. Our Philips products, Interact connected lighting systems and data-enabled services, deliver business value and transform life in homes, buildings, and public spaces. With 2020 sales of EUR 6.5 billion, we have approximately 38,000 employees and are present in over 70 countries. We unlock the extraordinary potential of light for brighter lives and a better world. We achieved carbon neutrality in 2020, have been in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index since our IPO for four consecutive years and were named Industry Leader in 2017, 2018, and 2019. News from Signify is located at the Newsroom, Twitter, Linked In, and Instagram. Information for investors can be found on the Investor Relations page.

LEDs Light the Way to Efficient Urban Farming

By Mike Martens, Senior Manager, Illumination Marketing at Osram Opto Semiconductors, North America

The global pandemic has turned the world upside down, bringing unprecedented change to the way we live, work and play. But the crisis has also paved the way for important new innovations. For instance, massive disruption to the global supply chain is now compelling many nations to ramp up their indoor and urban farming efforts to secure their food supply and feed their people.

Take the desert nation of the United Arab Emirates. Amid the ongoing pandemic, the country is experiencing something of a food crisis. That’s why it recently announced a $100 million investment in cutting-edge indoor farming facilities that can help feed its population. The effort will include the creation of the world’s largest vertical farm to help solve the challenge of local food production.

A key component of vertical farming is LED technology. In places across the globe where farmland is limited, innovative LED lighting solutions offer a major advantage because they can provide the exact light composition that various plants need for ideal growth or to develop certain characteristics. Plants can also be grown in a very space-saving manner and with considerably higher yields thanks to these lighting solutions.

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LEDs are more efficient

For decades, traditional high-pressure sodium (HPS) lamps were commonly used for greenhouses and other horticultural purposes but they bring with them many challenges. They have a short lifespan and are often only suitable for top lighting in greenhouses due to their high heat output.

This is a big problem for greenhouse owners because efficient energy use is essential to economic production. In traditional greenhouse and urban farming setups, HPS lights are often inefficient. They do provide light for plants, but it is often not the most efficient wavelength range because the lamps cannot be customized to provide ideal growing conditions for different types of plants.

HPS lights often generate a lot of heat , causing considerable evaporation and ultimately limiting crop yield. What’s more, due to this heat production, HPS fixtures often cannot be placed very close to plant canopy, preventing more efficient vertical-farm setups. After all, you don’t want to singe your produce.

The good news is that innovative LED technologies can alleviate many of these concerns. For starters, LEDs produce almost no radiated heat, allowing for the light fixtures  to be placed closer to plants and for plants to be stacked much higher, enabling farmers to grow more produce in smaller spaces while simultaneously reducing water costs.

LED lights also offer customizable wavelengths for different plants’ needs, allowing greenhouse operators and urban farmers to grow specific plants in their optimal conditions. For instance, LEDs can be tailored to supply light with a higher amount of red or blue content, generating exactly the wavelengths the plant, such as iceberg lettuce, tomatoes and basil need for optimal growth.

Urban farming is not a new phenomenon, but LEDs have the power to take it to the next level and more efficiently feed the world. In terms of sheer numbers, LEDs have an average lifespan of 50,000 hours compared to 8,000 hours for HPS lamps, making LEDS much more economical (and better for the environment). Indeed, vertical farms that leverage LED technology can achieve 40% energy savings compared to traditional lighting methods like HPS lamps. And due to the optimized light spectrum at 450, 660 and 730 nanometers, LEDs can provide the perfect lighting for all types of plants, allowing growers to adjust the lighting exactly to the needs of various crops.

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LEDs grow healthier produce

LED are the most efficient lighting technologies to date for growing produce. They not only help produce fresh food in smaller spaces without the use of pesticides, they also make it easier for consumers in urban areas to obtain fresh and healthy food quickly, a must, considering the planet’s ever-growing population and ever-decreasing farmland.

Consumers in urban areas often rely on produce grown in faraway places that is brought to them on trucks using fossil fuels. This produce is often grown with pesticides to keep insects away, as well as fertilizers, so plants can be grown throughout the year, even in suboptimal conditions. All of these factors contribute to climate change and more polluted water sources. With horticultural LEDs,  these issues can be mitigated.

LEDs also provide optimal growing conditions in any environment with minimal water waste, while reducing the need for pesticides in indoor growing environments. Communities then have the ability to grow produce closer to home, which allows consumers to learn more easily what exactly goes into their food and greatly reduces the fossil fuel usage to get produce from the (urban) farm to their tables. Urban farming has great potential to make positive impacts on local environments and communities. It’s more sustainable and decreases communities’ reliance on foods shipped in at great cost from around the globe.

LEDs light the way

As we grapple with the many concerns facing our modern society, it is imperative to invest in efficient and time-saving technology of all types. LEDs are one of these technologies. Indeed, they light the way to the farms of the future. They will have an enormously beneficial impact on agriculture by dramatically increasing crop production and putting food on every table more efficiently.

Expansion Update: Introducing Vertical Harvest Philadelphia

We Are Thrilled To Announce The Third Farm

Location For Vertical Harvest — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania!

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The farm, scheduled to break ground later this year, will be part of the new Tioga District™ development — a federally qualified opportunity zone located in a food, health, and wellness desert in the upper north area of the city.

Stationed adjacent to the Temple University Health Sciences Campus and Temple University Hospital, the 70,000 square foot Vertical Harvest greenhouse will be part of the development’s Preventative Health Hub™ a 168,000-sq-foot, state-of-the-art national model for healthcare, health, and wellness with social impact.

Along with the farm already under development in Westbrook Maine, this Philadelphia greenhouse is part of our initiative to co-locate vertical farms with affordable housing in underserved communities across the nation. Specifically, this Philadelphia project will include an accompanying 50 affordable housing units for farmworkers.

Exciting New Development Partners

Our partners in the project are Greg Day, principal and manager of TDB, LLC based in Westbrook, Maine. and TPP Capital Holdings (TPP), a Philadelphia-based, Black-led social impact private equity fund manager and healthcare real estate development firm. TPP is on a mission to change the face of Black health by investing in and transforming blighted and underserved black neighborhoods into integrated and scalable wellness-centric districts over the next 10 years. TPP’s principals Anthony B. Miles and Clinton Bush are co-architects of the Tioga District Preventative Health Hub™.

Within a five-city square block area, the full Tioga District™ development will create 1,407 residential units for rent or sale, the preventative health hub, 172,870 square feet of commercial/office space, 107,000 square feet of retail space, and 92,392 square feet of pedestrian, streetscape and stormwater improvements.

The goal is to uplift Philadelphia’s distressed neighborhood of Tioga with an 85.5% black population, 45% high blood pressure rate, 43.3% obesity rate, 19.3% diabetes rate, 42% of people in poverty, $17,052 median household income, and an unemployment rate of 18%.

We are very proud that Vertical Harvest will be part of this incredible and forward-thinking development, says Nona Yehia, Vertical Harvest CEO. “Partnering with the visionaries at TPP, we hope to help address systemic inequities and facilitate change in underserved neighborhoods. Vertical Harvest’s reimagined food systems and the jobs they create can help these communities be more nourishing, resilient, and sustainable.”

FEBRUARY 15, 2021/BY DAWN HAGIN

Have A Look Inside Large Plant Factory on JPFA Training Course

Have you ever visited a plant factory with artificial lighting (PFAL)? The Japan Plant Factory Association is now receiving applications for its 2021 Online Training Course on PFALs scheduled for Feb. 18-March 11. The course gives you the privilege of taking an exclusive look inside a large-scale, commercial PFAL in central Japan.

Plant factories, or vertical farms, are grabbing the headlines lately. Learn about them on our science-based practical online course--anytime at your convenience and anywhere in the world during the course period.

Besides introductory classes on the basics of PFALs, the course has the just mentioned PFAL virtual tour and the following other special content:

• A lecture on phenomics and the potential of phenotyping

• Hands-on technical training on PFAL business management

• Tailored, further explanations on previous-course lectures,

• Operational and hygiene management, future of PFALs in COVID-19 times (2020 Workshop)

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To View the Video, Please Click Here

Its introductory classes cover not only PFAL principles and the basics like photosynthesis, respiration, transpiration, light environment and plant growth, nutrient solution and hydroponic cultivation, but also forthcoming technologies and PFAL business management.

The JPFA oversees a plant factory hub on the Chiba University Kashiwanoha campus in Kashiwa, northeast of Tokyo. The nonprofit organization has shifted from on-site to online training due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The first-rate lecturers of the coming course include Toyoki Kozai, professor emeritus and former president of Chiba University, who is known as the father of plant factories, and Chieri Kubota, professor at the Ohio State University.

Along with lectures, the training course, run on a specified platform, encourages participants to interact each other and gives them a chance to join an online live question-and-answer session.

The course is available for anybody interested in PFALs--not only JPFA members but nonmembers as well. If you are curious, check here and apply now.

Apply Now

For more information

Japan Plant Factory Association
https://npoplantfactory.org/en/
https://npoplantfactory.org/information/news/2120/

https://npoplantfactory.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Renewed-Information-for-JPFA-2021-Online-Training-Course-on-Plant-Factories-with-Artificial-Lighting-PFALs-2021.1.20.pdf

Japan Plant Factory Association

The Japan Plant Factory Association, a nonprofit organization founded in 2010, is devoted to advancing the plant factory industry and controlled-environment agriculture in and outside Japan through academia-industry collaborations.

Its mission is to develop and disseminate sustainable plant factory systems in a bid to address issues concerning food, the environment, energy and natural resources.

The JPFA oversees plant factories on the Chiba University Kashiwanoha campus in Kashiwa, northeast of Tokyo. Also, it works on about 20 R&D projects and runs workshops and training courses.

How to Become a JPFA Member

Apply for JPFA membership here. For more information, visit the JPFA website or email us at training@npoplantfactory.org. We welcome your inquiries.

Price List for JPFA 2021 Online Training Course on PFALs

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Want more online educational options?

Hort Americas

VIDEO: Freight Farms - Greenery Tour Recording

 Below we've included the entire recording along with additional resources to help jump start your farming project. 

If you have any unanswered questions or would like to discuss your individual project, please reach out to your Account Executive  rick@freightfarms.com, and they will be able to assist you

Greenery Tour Recording

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We'd love to hear your feedback on how you think the event went!

Use the button below to complete a brief survey. 

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Additional Resources Provided During the Event:

Read about our training options and support.

Take a deep dive on LED lights for growing plants.

Learn more farmhand’s capabilities.

Get more ideas and guidance about how to find customers here.

Learn more about the nutrients used to grow strong plants inside the Greenery.

Freight Farms, 46 Plympton St, Boston, MA 02118, US, 877-687-4326

Warehouse Becoming Vertical Farms — And They’re Feeding New Jersey

Image from: New Jersey 101.5

New Jersey's vertical farms are transforming agriculture by helping farmers meet growing food demand.

New Jersey Agriculture Secretary Doug Fisher said that while conventional farming in outdoor fields remains critical, vertical farming has its advantages because of its efficiency and resistance to pests and thus less need for chemicals.

Vertical farming is the process of growing food vertically in stacked layers indoors under artificial light and temperature, mainly in buildings. These plants receive the same nutrients and all the elements needed to grow plants for food.

Vertical farms are also versatile. Plants may be growing in containers, in old warehouses, in shipping containers, in abandoned buildings.

"That's one of the great advantages — that we can put agriculture in the midst of many landscapes that have lost their vitality," said Fisher.

ResearchandMarkets.com says the U.S. vertical farming market is projected to reach values of around $3 billion by the year 2024.

The one drawback is that its operational and labor costs make it expensive to get up and running.

Image from: AeroFarms

In the past decade, however, vertical farming has become more popular, creating significant crop yields all over the state.

AeroFarms in Newark is the world's largest indoor vertical farm. The farm converted a 75-year-old 70,000-square-foot steel mill into a vertical farming operation. AeroFarms' key products include Dream Greens, its retail brand of baby and micro-greens, available year-round in several ShopRite supermarkets.

Kula Urban Farm in Asbury Park opened in 2014. Vacant lots are transformed into urban farms and there's a hydroponic greenhouse on site. That produce is sold to local restaurants.

Beyond Organic Growers in Freehold uses no pesticides and all seeds and nutrients are organic. There's a minimum of 12,000 plants growing on 144 vertical towers. On its website, it says the greenhouse utilizes a new growing technique called aeroponics, which involves vertical towers where the plant roots hang in the air while a nutrient solution is delivered with a fine mist. It also boasts that by using this method, plants can grow with less land and water while yielding up to 30% more three times faster than traditional soil farming.

Vertical farms in New Jersey help feed local communities. Many are in urban areas and are a form of urban farming.

Fisher predicts that vertical farms will be operational in stores and supermarkets around the state.

"It's continued to expand. There's going to be many, many ways and almost any area in the state has the opportunity to have a vertical farm," Fisher said.

Advice For New Vertical Farmers: Grower Spotlight on Andrew Worrall

Last week we spoke about running a farm at LettUs Grow. What excites you about vertical farming? 

It’s the future of the industry. Also, the amount of salad that these farms can produce for their local community. We want to be able to eat salad all year round and we import to make that happen. However, just a small farm can easily provide for its local community, very efficiently and all year round. The sustainability element is also exciting: with our salad there’s no food miles, it’s very minimalistic. You could use an electric van or bike to distribute this crop if you wanted to. It’s a step forward in terms of what we need to do to take care of our planet. 

What do you think are the biggest downsides to vertical farming?

It’s still a new technology and it can be expensive. The biggest roadblock facing the industry is that we need more people and companies to collaborate together to make sure we can build these farms at a sensible rate, so we can provide farms to anyone. We want to be able to provide farms to people, communities and countries that don’t have a lot of money, so that they can provide affordable fresh produce to local people. 

How has vertical farming impacted your life?

Massively!  I wanted to find my passion, a job that I loved - that was very important to me. It’s satisfying to be in a position now where I’m very happy to be doing what I do and I look forward to going into work. I was happy to make the move from London to Bristol. I would have moved even further if it meant being able to continue working within this industry.

Image from: LettUs Grow

How do you see vertical farming playing a part in the future? 

When indoor farming first came about, it had a reputation of being competition for outdoor farming, which just isn’t the case. There’s so much we can’t grow that outdoor farming can provide, such as cereal crops. I’m glad we’re at a stage where indoor and outdoor farms can start to work together to optimise both methods. With these new relationships, there should be a good increase in the amount of indoor farms you’ll be seeing. What LettUs Grow offers with DROP & GROW™ is an exciting project because that’s a 40ft shipping container which can be placed pretty much anywhere. It’s not that big - it could go in a car park or behind a restaurant, but actually provide quite a lot of salad to that area. 

How much of our food should be grown this way? 

Good question. If you had asked me a while back I would have just said salad, but now I’ve changed my mind. Indoor farming can have a massive impact on propagation, especially aeroponics, because of how we aerate and nourish our roots. We could start lettuce for greenhouse projects and we can also propagate tomatoes, strawberries and tree whips. Propagating trees in this way could potentially be hugely beneficial and it’s something we want to do more of. 

We can also quickly grow large amounts of microgreens, baby leafs, herbs and we can grow fruiting crops like strawberries. We are slowly chipping away and it’s really exciting. I’m waiting to see if I can ever say I’ve grown or propagated every crop that can be grown in these farms! 

What do you think are the biggest benefits of vertical farming? 

How fast these crops can grow! The turnover can be as short as 5 days from seed, depending on the crop. Also how clean it can be - I’m very dedicated to making sure these farms are built to ensure they are easy to be maintained and clean. The most exciting part is the crop growth rate though - it’s incredible how fast our crop grows from seed to plate. In a very well maintained growing calendar, which Ostara® is great for supporting, you can optimise your beds so that the day you harvest can also be the day you germinate onto that same bed. Your farms can be forever providing salad at very fast rates. 

Image from: LettUs Grow

What was the biggest change you encountered during your years indoor farming?

Moving from being a production grower to an R&D grower. It has been a great change! As a production grower I knew what I needed to know about growing the plant safely and getting it onto a plate so it was good for the consumer. Now I’m fully optimising, learning and understanding the plants completely, so that I can help the grower that I used to be. We spend a lot of time on crop recipes to make sure that whoever we sell our farms to can start up very quickly and they won’t have to spend months developing their crops. If they have the customers and clients behind them, they can buy DROP & GROW and start producing salad as soon as it's been commissioned. 

What was the biggest change you encountered in the industry?

More and more people are speaking about what’s going on in the industry and getting involved. I get so many messages on LinkedIn with people who want to get into this career. It’s exciting to see that indoor growing is a career people can access now. When I was developing my skills I didn’t know I would end up in indoor farming. There are more opportunities than ever before. For example, our Crop Technician is doing a placement here for 2 years. The aim is that they can gain the skill sets and knowledge they need to then go off and do the same practice in any farm they want. 

What advice do you have for people who are looking to start a career in growing? 

Reach out to companies who are already out there. You could start off part-time or as an assistant. If you are patient and dedicated then it’s a journey I promise you won’t regret. It takes a lot of work, but the outcome is amazing - you’ll be learning so much about this new technology. You’ll also build great relationships: there are so many amazing people in this industry who are so interesting, with different backgrounds, who are willing to share their knowledge. You can always learn more and other people are a great source of that. 

What about for those looking to start a vertical farming business?

Do your homework.  There are people out there who you can reach out to and it’s very easy to get information. It’s very easy to get excited about the idea and jump straight into it, because it is exciting and can be very rewarding, but it’s really important to do it step by step. Know how to scale properly, learning the differences between a small and larger farm. Understand how many people you’ll need and the logistics. I’d also advise people to get some practical work experience before you buy. You want to start the company knowing the tricks of the trade. 

Image from: LettUs Grow

LettUs Grow Blog: www.lettusgrow.com/blog/advice-for-vertical-farmers

Light Company LumiGrow Has Ceased Operations

The lighting company LumiGrow has ceased operations and is now out of business. 

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LumiGrow was a company focused on LED lights, and it hit the headlines at the beginning of 2020 for the purple glow that illuminated the sky over Navajo County, Arizona, which was coming from a cannabis greenhouse where LumiGrow LEDs were installed. 

The company has not shared specific information as to why operations have been ceased. For sure, the global pandemic together with the fierce competition in the LED sector of horticulture have had an impact. 

Publication date: Tue 2 Feb 2021

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Lumileds Addresses Industry Growth With LUXEON 3030 HE Plus Horticulture

Broad spectrum white LEDs are widely available

San Jose, CA – February 2, 2021 – Lumileds today announced immediate high quantity availability of its LUXEON 3030 HE Plus Horticulture LEDs. Based on the company’s leading 3030 LED portfolio and characterized for horticulture, the new options offer high PPF/W, broad-spectrum white light that enables grow lights that are productive and economical.

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“In horticulture applications growers are looking for time tested, top performance and reliability, the LUXEON 3030 HE Plus Horticulture delivers the photons that enable consistent and high growth output with the highest of efficiencies,” said Mei Yi, Product Manager.

The new LEDs are engineered for robust sulfur protection – critical for long and stable lifetime in warm and humid environments – and are specified for horticulture at 65mA and Tj= 25°C with CCTs from 2200K to 6500K and CRI of 70, 80 or 90. When matched with LUXEON Deep Red and Far Red options a complete horticulture illumination solution is at hand.

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LUXEON 3030 HE Plus Horticulture is available in manufacturing quantities today. It offers a 0.1V forward voltage bin, quadrant color bin inside 3SDCM, and a maximum drive current of 480mA. Detailed product information can be found at https://lumileds.com/3030Horticulture.

About Lumileds

For automotive, mobile, IoT, and illumination companies that require innovative lighting solutions, Lumileds is a global leader employing more than 7,000 team members operating in over 30 countries. Lumileds partners with its customers to push the boundaries of light.

To learn more about our portfolio of lighting solutions, visit lumileds.com.

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Elevated Vertical Farming: Vaisala Sensors And The Story of Fifth Season

Vertical farming is looking up – quite literally. No sun, no soil, no vast expanse of land? No problem. At least not for indoor vertical farming company Fifth Season.

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“When you don’t have to worry about outdoor conditions, you have the benefit of going vertical. We can grow plants year-round in urban areas close to the dense part of a city,” said Fifth Season Co-founder and CTO/COO Brac Webb

Every minute, we’re collecting Vaisala sensor data to measure and maintain the conditions most important for plant growth and using that information to build something special.

-Brac Webb, Fifth Season

Using a sophisticated mix of artificial intelligence (AI), sensors, data modeling and robotics, Fifth Season’s technology tends to each plant’s individual needs at high levels of efficiency and precision. But sensors and their data play the most pivotal role. “The plants are telling us exactly what they want. We just have to adjust to that,’ said Webb. “Every minute, we’re collecting Vaisala sensor data to measure and maintain the conditions most important for plant growth and using that information to build something special.”

Background

The story of Fifth Season is very much the story of the American Dream.

The startup began with three friends and entrepreneurs: cofounders Brac Webb, Austin Webb, and Austin Lawrence. Originally founded in 2016 as RoBotany Ltd., the company was incubated at Carnegie Mellon University’s (CMU) Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship.

“We really started as a tech company and looked at the vertical farming problem at first and wondered what we can do to help solve some tech problems there,” Webb said. “Much of our evolution is due to the advances of HVAC sensors and LED lights. We already had the programming. So, we said, heck, let’s just do the whole thing.”

Fifth Season is now a 60,000-square-foot, solar-powered vertical farm in the Pittsburgh borough of Braddock, PA. The company’s 25,000 square-foot grow room is equipped with 40 different robots and has 12 levels with more than 125,000 square feet of production capacity. Compared to conventional produce, which can travel thousands of miles by truck or plane, fresh produce grown in local vertical farms need only travel a few miles to reach consumers. The company produces an assortment of leafy greens, arugula, and spinach as well as ready-to-eat salads that are sold to a local clientele including Giant Eagle and numerous other retailers. They have also launched a Direct-To-Consumer model on their website.

The company uses its small army of 40 robots to streamline almost every aspect of the vertical growing operation, including storage, retrieval, harvesting, integrated pest, and disease management, scouting, seeding, media packaging, and more, according to Webb. Humans are minimally involved in the process, mostly to coordinate the robotic army to execute specific growing recipes or other tasks – which also cuts labor costs from 40% in traditional farms to just 20%.

“We have cutting-edge technology - not using traditional methods, using more of a robotics approach - and a ton of data collection with Vaisala sensors, not only for closed-loop control but also for alerting us to changes in plant growth or the environment,” Webb said.

Industry Overview

Total control of the growing environment – 24/7/365 – in small spaces governed by known and emerging technologies are farming’s oft-cited competitive advantages over other types of farming. Vertical farming also is known for efficient resource management. For example, with its hydroponics approach, growing plants in a solution of water and nutrients, Fifth Season uses 97% less land and up to 95% less water than traditional farming.

Vertical farming attempts to take the uncertainties of agriculture – pests, sunlight, soil, etc. – and makes them controllable through various combinations of AI, artificial light, sensor monitoring, climate control systems, etc. Crops are stacked in layers or rows sometimes 20 to 30 feet high. LED lights are used by all vertical farms to create a specific light recipe for each plant, giving the greens the exact spectrum, intensity, and frequency needed for photosynthesis. LEDs offer several benefits, such as: exceptional color range, longevity, low radiated heat, and energy-efficiency. They can also be recycled and don’t contain any toxic compounds or elements like mercury. Different types of crops prefer different types of lighting. For example, leafy greens and vegetative crops prefer light towards the blue side of the spectrum; whereas fruiting and flowering crops may need something more along the red spectrum.

Vaisala Sensors

The peace of mind factor is huge. You get that from Vaisala.... I never once questioned the reading that I’m getting, or that it will be just as consistent tomorrow.

-Brac Webb, Fifth Season

So, why Vaisala? “The peace of mind factor is huge. You get that from Vaisala. If we have issues with our growing environments, all our plants can die. I mean, it could kill our business,” Webb said. “I never once questioned the reading that I’m getting, or that it will be just as consistent tomorrow. But, more than that, it was also the support we received to quickly integrate your technology into our engineering and get everything up and running fast,” Webb added. In fact, tightly controlling and monitoring light, humidity, CO2, and the temperature is critically important to Fifth Season. So, data, data, data….

“We have, gosh, probably 360 of Vaisala’s HMP110 humidity and temperature probes and 36 GMP252 CO2 probes distributed throughout the entire growing environment. It’s not just about gathering data in real-time. With post-analysis of big data, we can review the growth history of those plants and learn something about them. We may learn, for example, what we thought was the best growing environment for those plants to achieve optimal conditions for taste, quality, and yield isn’t the best after all,” Webb said. “And we can course-correct.”

Future

As the world’s population expands, projected to reach 9 billion by 2050, so too does the amount of fruits and vegetables needed to sustain it. There is only so much farmland to accommodate the increase in fresh food required for life. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, investors, and entrepreneurs alike are acknowledging vertical farming as having the potential to strengthen the global food system. And startups like Fifth Season, backed by significant venture capital, are paving the way to deliver new solutions that efficiently deliver fresh and healthy food to people.

“The more we learn, the more we can improve vertical farming,” Webb said, jokingly adding: “If only we can get to the point that the computer could taste the plant.” 

The story of Fifth Season is just beginning.

“We’d like to replicate these hyper-local farms. So, it isn’t just about solving the problems of having fresh produce available in Pittsburgh and making sure we can run it here. This farm is a product that we want to be able to deploy in multiple locations all over the United States, all over the world at some point, you know. That’s our grand vision.”

For Fifth Season and Webb, there’s also an underlying humanitarian goal of vertical farming that transcends business. 

“As a person and an engineer, I always like reading about how (US President) Thomas Jefferson thought agriculture and engineering are intertwined: that agriculture is humanity’s first and foremost engineering problem to solve. You’re helping create jobs in that local area and we have seen how important that is to the economy. Thanks to the technology from Vaisala, you can create an environment that is perfect for the plants and help people too.”

For more information, please Contact Us.

Download the complete Customer Story below.

Elevated vertical farming: Vaisala sensors and the story of Fifth Season

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Boost Operational Efficiencies With Lighting Control System

"Signify’s expanded GrowWise Control System helps growers boost operational efficiencies. This allows for full dimming for Philips toplighting compact in greenhouses. Besides, it enables growers to plan and automate light recipes one year ahead and to control the grow lighting through their climate computer or greenhouse management system. This will result in lower manual labor costs and improved operational efficiency," the company announces.

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Signify has expanded its GrowWise Control System, allowing for higher levels of automation and reducing manual labor and operational costs. This can be achieved by automating the lighting planning for their crop’s full growth cycle, up to one year ahead. The software tool brings dynamic lighting to greenhouses and vertical farms and fits seamlessly with modern climate computers and greenhouse management systems. This enables growers to automatically adjust light levels to maintain consistent levels on cloudy days, save energy on sunny days and simulate sunrise and sunset throughout the day or season.

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Growers, like the Italian vertical farm, Planet Farms, and the Belgium greenhouse, De Glastuin, are already using the expanded system providing additional value within their growing facility. 

“Using the GrowWise Control System is ideal for us,” says Luca Travaglini, co-founder of Planet Farms. “We want to automate as many aspects of our operations as possible to become more cost efficient. Now we can easily create custom light recipes and set them to run year-round to provide the right light recipe with the right light intensity at the right time throughout the crop’s growth cycle. By automating our full light strategy during the growth cycle, for the whole year, we can run our operations very efficiently and keep our manual labor costs low. That makes it easier for us to maintain consistent quality as we scale up our production.”

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The demand for the GrowWise Control System is increasing for greenhouse applications as well. “The lighting can be used much more efficient, since it gives us the flexibility to reduce light levels at any moment we need to,” says Wouter de Bruyn, owner at De Glastuin. Lettuce grower De Glastuin is using the GrowWise Control System to control the Philips GreenPower LED toplighting compact grow lights via its climate control system. “The climate computer is equipped with a daylight sensor that sends actual light measurements to the GrowWise Control System so we can adapt our light levels automatically to ensure an even light level throughout the day and season. This results in a continuous high-quality crop. In case the electricity is the limiting factor, we are still able to use the LEDs evenly for the whole greenhouse in a lesser intensity.”

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“Dynamic lighting in a greenhouse is the next step in improving the cost-efficiency and quality for the cultivation process,” says Udo van Slooten, Business leader Horticulture LED solutions at Signify. “It allows growers to effortlessly maintain a consistent level of light throughout the day to produce the best possible crops. The system compensates for cloudy weather and creates a more controlled growing environment for your crop.”

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Signify
www.philips.com/horti

29 Jan 2021

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The One Thing You’re Probably Overlooking In Your Greenhouse

Agritech Tomorrow

The cost of natural sunlight is an important thing for producers to understand because there is an economic value that they should be placing on sunlight. It’s one of the main inputs to production!

If you ask a good greenhouse operator, “What is your cost of natural gas? Electricity? Building cost per square foot? Operational cost per square foot?”, he’ll give you detailed answers.

 Ask him, “What is the value of the light you receive?” and you’ll get a different response.

 “…Uh, what?” he might respond. 

 You clarify. “The light, the sunlight. What is the value of the sunlight?

“I don’t know.” He will be taken off guard because he’s never thought about it before. Why?

 Because people take light for granted. After all, sunlight is free. Why place a value on it? 

 But light is a “free” resource!

The cost of natural sunlight is an important thing for producers to understand because there is an economic value that they should be placing on sunlight. It’s one of the main inputs to production! If they’re placing an economic value on supplemental lighting, then they should be placing an economic value on natural light.

 Why do they make that mistake? Because it’s free. Most people don’t put a value on free things.

 And if a person places no value on a thing, they’re not going to use it efficiently. When something is free you don’t think about trying to use it in the most economical sense. When something is free you just use it.

 Why would you try to conserve something that’s free? Why would you try to maximize the value of something that’s free? In your mind, it has no value.

This is true with sunlight. Because it’s (supposedly) a free resource, people don’t place an economic value on it and then they don’t build their model to maximize that value. The problem with this is that light does have a cost that can act as a limiting factor on your operation. This inefficiency poses a significant problem.

 For instance, say you want to grow in Alaska. You want to grow year round but in the middle of the winter you might only have an hour of daylight – all of a sudden the economic value of that light becomes alarmingly apparent. Because you actually have to pay to replace it in the wintertime. So if you’re growing in Alaska in the wintertime, you’re freaking out about how you get the maximum value out of that light. You’re may choose to use red and blue LEDs instead of white because you can get more efficiency from them – even if it’s at a higher initial cost. You’re going to do everything you can to maximize the value of that resource.

 We often overlook the value of light in southern parts of the continent.

 And that’s why, even though light is a resource like everything else, no one actually figures it into any of their calculations, including the cost of goods sold. This mistake often limits growers to much lower production, or missing out on key observations that inform their model. (Among other things.)

 In reality, the value of light is high

Note that the value and the cost of light are very comparable here. The value of something can be defined by it’s cost. Keep that in mind.

 If you did think about light use efficiency, you would probably find yourself at the same destination that we did: volumetric farming, and much higher production because of it.

 How to Place a Value on Light

If you don’t have light, then the easiest way to calculate it is by calculating the cost of replacing that light. What is the cost of replacing it with LEDs or HID or whatever supplemental lighting you choose?

 If you do have light, then you’re probably growing in a greenhouse. In that case, you can find the cost of light by comparing the cost of growing in a greenhouse (which is how you are acquiring that light) with the cost of growing in a facility without that sunlight. (So the value of the sunlight is essentially the difference in operational cost between a warehouse of the same size and a greenhouse.)

 These operating costs are going to include things like replacing a covering, heating (heating a greenhouse is always a lot more expensive), and maybe things like building permits.

Those costs can add up, and you’ll find that light is a costly resource even if you don’t think about it much. When you understand the costs of light, you will begin to use it more efficiently. You’ll start thinking about maximizing light use the same way that you maximize water and electrical and natural gas and other resources.

Initially this will result in lower overall costs, but we think you’ll find that your efforts toward efficiency will lead to even more benefits.

 Once you do understand the value of your light, how do you get more out of it?

To increase light use efficiency, you first have to identify the main areas of waste and eliminate them. To do that, you start by identifying what’s happening with most of the light that enters your greenhouse: absorption and reflection.

ZipGrow Towers were designed to reflect light through the mass of towers to reduce shadowing and light waste.

Absorption is happening either when the light hits photosynthesizing plants or when it hits another absorptive surface and is either used by plants or turns to heat. Reflection happens when light hits a surface and bounces back. This is what you want, because if it’s not being absorbed by plants, then we reflect it to be absorbed by plants. (The less light energy that’s converted to heat, the more is conserved for use by your plants.)

 The most obvious way to promote reflectance is to use reflective surfaces wherever possible. This doesn’t necessarily mean using silver or mirror finish, but it does mean white finishes to reflect that light. It also means that we think about growing plants on multiple planes, and arranging the production apparatus to conserve light within the greenhouse through reflection as opposed to reflecting it out of the greenhouse.

 If you’re growing on a horizontal plane, know that if that light doesn’t hit a plant, oftentimes light will just be reflected back up and out of your greenhouse. When we switch the plane around so that the photons are conserved to the bottom of the mass, our absorption rates are higher, we have more plants absorbing energy rather than energy just being reflected up and out of the greenhouse. That’s the idea behind volumetric farming with ZipGrow™ Towers.

Source and Photo Courtesy of Agritech Tomorrow

Understanding The Key Tech Required In Vertical Farming

Staff Reporter Jan 25, 2021

Vertical farming involves; growing crops indoors under artificial temperature and lighting conditions. This technology focuses on increasing productivity in small places. It utilizes soil-free methods like aeroponics, aquaponics, and hydroponics. Read on to understand the main tech you need for your vertical farm. 

(Photo : Valcenteu Wikimedia Commons)

Lighting systems

Covered agriculture, which is the traditional method of farming uses HPS (High-Pressure Sodium) vapor lamps. These units generate a warm light, which appears as an orange-yellow glow in areas with many glasshouses. LED technologies have evolved, becoming more energy-efficient and cheaper. 

LED vertical farming lighting dictates the next generation controlled environment agriculture (CEA). While HPS lamps generate orangey-yellow light, LEDs can be designed to generate light in any color or combination of choice. Today, more LED lights are specially designed for the CEA industry. 

Researchers are working with manufacturers to manufacture crop-specific lights to enhance photosynthesis, guarantee crop quality, and boost yield production. When growing crops in an indoor environment without a natural or external light source, the quality and quantity of artificial vertical farming lighting for your crops is critical. 

Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC)

Controlling the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning is crucial in managing a vertical farm. Remember, the HVAC can influence the yield, health, and quality of your crops. Smart regulating systems are crucial for the management and maintenance of ventilation, temperature, and humidity. Installing smart enabled HVAC systems that can be incorporated into a general control system is critical.

Nutrients

Controlled environment agriculture allows farmers to regulate the frequency, levels, and nutrients they use on the crops. Commercial nutrient mixes are not only readily available but are also easy to use for your vertical farm. However, you can improve the quality of your crops and increase production with a crop-specific nutrient mix. Research and knowledge help you produce efficient nutrient mixtures for your vertical farm. 

Control Systems

Control systems audit, and manage all elements of a controlled environment. Doing so allows the farmer to make proper decisions for crop-specific growing conditions. Advanced control systems give farmers crucial data on crop health, development, and the environment. 

With this data, the farmer can develop different features of the growing conditions. Further, control systems facilitate the implementation of nutrient mixes and light that can change throughout growing, light intensity, and delivery of supplementary C02 (carbon dioxide). 

Future vertical farms should come with integrated control systems and inline crop monitoring systems to facilitate disease management. These components will help boost conditions, enhance energy-efficiency, and increase yield. 

Growing Systems

Vertical farming involves various hydroponic systems, making soil and other growing media unnecessary. Farmers can use different substrates, as seen below. 

• NTF (Nutrient Film Technique)

The NTF comprises narrow troughs or channels where flowing small amounts of nutrient and water solution drains to the bottom of the troughs. This process creates a thin film. Plants are hanged over the trough in net containers. They receive small amounts of the nutrient solution often per day. 

The fine nutrient film solution facilitates watering of the rear of the roots without getting soaked. The top part of the roots stays dry and consumes oxygen. The nutrient film technique is ideal for baby greens, salads, leaves, strawberries, and herbs. 

• Flood and Ebb System

The flood and ebb system is also known as drain and flood. It involves the use of trays filled with a nutrient solution for a few minutes before the water drains. The plant roots are swayed around the nutrient solution. Using flood like circumstances allows the plants to consume nutrients and oxygen, making them healthy and strong. The flood and ebb system is ideal for producing microgreens. 

Finally

Vertical farming allows farmers to grow crops throughout the year, and this facilitates maximum crop production. This technology does not rely on the weather. You can grow your crops with the help of LED lighting. Apart from being eco-friendly, vertical farming allows you to farm within limited spaces, as is the case in cities. 

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VIDEO: Daan Roosegaarde Uses "Light Recipes" To Show How Agriculture Could Be More Sustainable

Dezeen Magazine

Amy Frearson | January 18, 2021

Studio Roosegaarde has unveiled Grow, a 20,000-square-metre light installation designed to highlight the beauty of agriculture while also improving crop growth.

The Rotterdam-based studio, led by designer Daan Roosegaarde, used red, blue, and ultraviolet lights to transform a field into a dynamic artwork.

As well as creating a visual spectacle, the installation serves as a prototype for how certain "light recipes" can be used to increase plant growth and reduce the use of pesticides by up to 50 percent.

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Grow is a 20,000-square-metre light installation in a Dutch field

The first ideas for the project came after an early morning visit to the farm. As a self-confessed urbanite, Roosegaarde told Dezeen he had spent very little time exploring the Netherlands' agricultural landscape, so was amazed to experience it first hand.

Despite being a relatively small country, the Netherlands is one of the world's largest producers of vegetables, second only to the United States, and has established itself as a pioneer of highly efficient farming techniques.

"We thought we should highlight the beauty of this agriculture," said Roosegaarde. "These vast fields feed us, but nobody sees it."

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Lights turn the crops into a visual spectacle but also helps to improve growth

Shortly after, Roosegaarde became aware of advancements in photobiological lighting technology. Research suggests that certain combinations of light can not only strengthen plant metabolism but also create resistance to both pests and disease.

Although the technology has been used in greenhouses, Roosegaarde saw an opportunity to test its potential at a larger scale.

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The "light recipe" combines specific types of red, blue, and ultraviolet light

"A specific ultraviolet light activates the defense system of plants. And what is interesting is that it works on all crops," the designer explained. "So we can reduce the use of pesticides."

Pesticides are known to have a significantly harmful effect on biological diversity, one of the pillars of sustainability. If the farming industry was able to reduce reliance on them, it would be of great benefit to the environment.

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These lights can strengthen plant metabolism and create resistance to pests and disease

Studio Roosegaarde created Grow with high-density LEDs positioned at different points around the field.

The devices move up and down, distributing the light evenly across the field. As they move, they create dancing patterns that are hypnotic to watch. "It's very futuristic and also very romantic, in a way," suggested Roosegaarde.

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Grow is the latest of several large-scale light installations Roosegaarde has created

The effect is similar to some of the other large-scale installations Roosegaarde has created in the past like Waterlicht, which mimicked the effect of the Northern Lights as a way to highlight a flood plain.

However, the designer sees Grow as a project with a bigger audience. His plan is to take it around the world, with different light recipes formulated to suit different crops.

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The designer hopes to promote the role of the farmer as a hero

Roosegaarde's aim is to help to speed up the application of this science, but also to create a more universal appreciation for the important role of farmers, who he describes as heroes.

"I want to design things which make people curious about the future, not sad or mad," added Roosegaarde. "Light is my language. Light is not decoration, it's activation and it's communication."

Grow was commissioned by Rabobank, for the bank's ongoing artist-in-residence programme. The ambition is for the project to tour all 40 countries where the bank operates.

Read more: Design Lighting Netherlands Plants Farms Installations Studio Roosegaarde Technology

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Vertical Farming’s Success Depends On The Cheapest Lightbulb

The industry promised to tackle world hunger. But all it may end up delivering for now is expensive basil and perhaps some better quality marijuana.

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By Jess Shankleman

January 16, 2021

Abu Dhabi’s giant Yas Mall isn’t the most obvious location for embracing nature. The sprawling complex, which houses a 20-screen cinema, leads to a Ferrari-themed amusement park.

At its heart is the Carrefour SA hypermarket. There’s no natural light or soil, yet floor-to-ceiling shelves offer shoppers herbs and microgreens grown right in the store. The fresh produce is a rare sight in the United Arab Emirates, which is almost all desert and imports 80% of its food. It’s marketed as a healthy way for customers to reduce the carbon emissions that would be generated transporting their groceries. 

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Carrefour grows herbs and microgreens such as arugula on shelves stacked floor to ceiling.

Photographer: Christopher Pike/Bloomberg

More than a decade ago, microbiologist Dickson Despommier floated the idea that nations with little arable land like the UAE could become self-reliant by growing food in skyscrapers with perfectly optimized artificial light and heat. He called it vertical farming and argued that it could reduce world hunger and restore forests depleted by commercialized agriculture. It would also eliminate planet-warming emissions caused by plowing fields, weeding, and harvesting, as well as transportation.

In the years since millions of dollars have poured into companies trying to make Despommier’s idea a reality. Agriculture and forestry account for about a quarter of the world’s greenhouse gases, while the hunt for new farming land to feed a growing global population has exacerbated deforestation. The prospect of solving both problems has enticed all sorts of investors, from tech entrepreneurs to restaurateurs and industry giants like Walmart Inc.

A record $754 million of venture capital was invested in the industry in the first three quarters of 2020, according to PitchBook data, a 34% increase from the whole of 2019.  It’s drawn particular interest in Singapore and the UAE, whose governments have set goals to increase their national food production. 

Mostly Leaves

Percentage of vertical farmers who say they grow a given crop

But vertical farming will have to get a lot cheaper to deliver on its lofty aspirations. While it frees up arable land and uses 95% less water, creating the ideal conditions for growing plants ends up consuming much more energy than traditional methods. Lights need to run for 12 to 16 hours a day and heating must be used in the winter. Miguel Povedano, chief operating officer at Majid Al Futtaim Retail, which runs the Carrefour franchise across the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, says vertical farms cost 20% to 30% more than traditional ones. 

Investors may not be able to live up to the hype they’ve created around the industry, and see their bubble burst before they have a chance to prove themselves, says Michael Dent, an analyst at IDTechEx. “If people are expecting world-changing progress and they don’t see it in the first two or three years — and what they see is high-quality salad — there’s a chance they might pull out their investment on the field and move on to the next thing.” 

His analysis shows that most vertical farmers focus on herbs and salad greens because of their rapid and simple crop cycles. Microgreens in particular are popular with consumers concerned with healthy eating, rather than in deprived areas. They’re also more likely to grow herbs like cannabis than higher-calorific squashes or melons, which need more energy and water.

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A migrant worker adjusts lettuce inside an indoor hydroponic farm operated by Green Container Advanced Farming LLC (GCAF) in a Carrefour SA grocery store in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Monday, Nov. 9, 2020. Photographer: Christopher Pike/Bloomberg

Rather than feeding the world’s poor with high-calorific foods, the microgreens and herbs grown by indoor farms are only going to be an option for the world’s wealthy elite for many years to come. Vertically farmed produce is far more expensive than conventionally farmed goods and even most organic produce, Dent found. For example, New York-based Bowery Farming’s indoor-produced kale mix is almost three times more expensive per pound than Whole Foods Market’s baby kale option, and its cilantro is more than five times more expensive than its Whole Food’s equivalent.

Emerald Technology Ventures investor Gina Domanig says she’s more interested in backing technologies that can reduce energy costs than the farms themselves. She compares indoor farming to desalination technology — the process of removing salt from seawater to provide fresh drinking water to people in water-stressed countries such as Israel.

“When desalination came out, everybody said it’s the holy grail for freshwater,” she says. “But desalination is really energy-intensive.” Vertical farming “might be an interesting thing” if there are technologies to make it less energy-intensive, she says, but right now “it’s not economic or environmentally sound in all areas.”

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Salad greens require less energy and water to grow indoors than higher calorific foods.

Photographer: Christopher Pike/Bloomberg

One option to cut costs is solar power, which has become the cheapest source of electricity in many parts of the world. In Germany, Farmers Cut has developed a combination of solar power plants and batteries so it pays less for power than it would connecting to the country’s grid, says Chief Executive Officer Henner Schwartz. The cost of storing energy can be as low as 10 or 11 euro cents per kilowatt in Germany. 

“The energy issue is the key thing you need to crack,” he says. “We’re not claiming we can do carrots or watermelons any time soon at competitive prices, because it’s just not possible.”

In Abu Dhabi, Carrefour is trying to find a lightbulb supplier who can reduce its power use by as much as 65%, according to Povedano. “The kilowatts consumed in electricity is the major handicap,” he says. “It’s not only what you, as a company, want to do. It’s how you get the customer to substitute imported products for this technology, and the key is that it needs to be really affordable in terms of price.’’

— With assistance by Agnieszka de Sousa

Lead photo: LED lighting at an indoor hydroponic farm inside a Carrefour SA grocery store in Dubai.

Photographer: Christopher Pike/Bloomberg

Tips To Reduce Vertical Farm Costs

There are a number of key variables to consider when setting up your own vertical farm that calls for considerable financial clout. Light Science Technologies offers a bespoke solution that helps growers to achieve maximum yield while saving costs and energy. 

The rising AgriTech start-up offers the first of two features offering tips to help you to reap optimum results and high returns.

Tip 1: Location, location, location
While you don’t need as much land as traditional growing, finding the right location for your vertical farm is crucial. The wrong location can prove a costly mistake, so do your homework before committing. Do you have the right local infrastructure in place to get your product to your buyer as efficiently as possible? Can you source enough electricity? How much does water cost in this county compared to the next one over? 

Tip 2: Minimize energy costs
However, energy-efficient your operation is, you’re still going to use a huge amount of electricity every year. The most cost-effective solution might be to create your own renewable energy. That isn’t possible for all sites, but even micro-generation could help to bring your OPEX down. 

Tip 3: Engage the experts
Let’s be frank: vertical farming is no small subject. Start building relationships as early as possible with people who know everything on it, from lighting and data to botany. 

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Tip 4: Balance OpEx and CapEx costs
Think big picture in terms of cost. Spending more initially could reap rewards later on. For instance, heavier investment in technology in order to automate seeding, feeding, watering and harvesting will require a greater initial outlay, but a far smaller workforce; labour costs can easily account for over 50% of a vertical farm’s OpEx. 

According to CambridgeHOK, a small vertical farm with minimal automation costs around £1,000 per square metre to set up. A large farm with full automation will cost in the region of £3,000 per square metre. You’ll also need to factor in OPEX differences to the growing system you choose (hydroponic, aeroponic, and/or aquaponic).

Tip 5: Don’t cut corners
Buy wisely. Avoid gambling on cheaper products, such as mass-produced imported lighting. Ensure major costs come with decent guarantees and support in place should anything go wrong. 

Cutting corners now could cause repercussions later down the line, and not just in maintenance and replacement costs. Cheaper options could spell inflexibility, killing your vertical farm’s true potential.

6. Choose your crops carefully
There are pros and cons to different types of crops. Quick-growing plants tend to be cheaper to grow, resulting in an abundance of product. However, some slower-growing crops, such as medicinal cannabis, can earn you far more per plant. Some crops require less energy. Others take up less space so you can pack more in. Fastidious research and number crunching will help you to choose the best option for your own vertical farm.  

Tip 7: Know your audience
Assuming there’s a market for what you’re growing is where you could fall short. Many vertical farmers focus on fast-growing salad crops. In an optimized environment, you could end up producing 30 tonnes of salad a day. But can you guarantee sales of lettuce through the depths of winter? Potentially, this could either mean considerable wastage or letting part of your vertical farm sit idle for weeks on end, which will mean diminishing returns. 

Sound planning and organization from the start is essential and will enable you to factor in a different crop switch every few months with flexible lighting systems if required. 

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For more information:
Light Science Tech 
Claire Brown, PR Consultant
claire.brown@lightsciencetech.com
www.lightsciencetech.com 

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Publication date: Fri 8 Jan 2021

Year-Round Under-Glass Herb Cultivation In The Heart of Berlin

Urban Farming Using LEDs From Fluence by OSRAM

ECF Farmsystems uses innovative LED lighting solutions from Fluence for today’s herb cultivation in the heart of Berlin. An innovative urban farm, ECF Farm Berlin (ECF Farmsystems) uses techniques for greenhouse and vertical cultivation of basil. The farm also uses aquaponics to naturally fertilize the crops, the produce of which then goes to Rewe, Germany's second-largest supermarket chain.

Less space and more production is the name of the game at ECF Farmsystems: comprehensive lighting solutions, from growing to greenhouse culture, enable the year-round production of uniform, aromatic basil plants.

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Modern agriculture thanks to LED lighting / Image: Osram

Urban cultivation from seed to finished product
On-site propagation on VertiCCs, a racking system for vertical cultivation developed by ECF Farmsystems, increases production by 35% with the same footprint and optimized supply chain from seed to finished product.

The system also ensures consistent, uniform products. This is because ECF Farmsystems completely controls the entire growing cycle with less pest infestation and more accurate yield forecasting. In addition, the VYPR lighting systems offer higher-quality light spectra compared to conventional lamp systems. In addition, thanks to VYPR solutions, greenhouse growing is no longer seasonal, as efficient crop lighting provides uniform plants with consistent productivity, regardless of local weather.

With Fluence's RAZR Series, ECF Farmsystems achieves more effective operations and a 35% increase in production without the need for new construction or remodeling. By expanding vertical growing in the plant nursery, which eliminates the need to invest in additional growing space/facilities, ECF Farmsystems saves important emission costs. Propagation on VertiCCs systems with RAZR exposure allows ECF Farmsystems to control the entire growth cycle, better manage pests, and now calculate yields more accurately.

The new RAZR module will be available in January 2021.

For more information:
fluence.science/webinars
https://en.ecf-farm.de/  
https://www.osram.com/os/applications/horticulture-lighting/index.jsp  

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Publication date: Thu 7 Jan 2021

Valoya Appoints A VP Sales North America

Valoya continues its growth trajectory with the addition of VP Sales North America, Mr. Wes Eaton. With extensive experience in horticulture and business development, Mr. Eaton will be tasked with driving Valoya’s growth in the North American market even further.

Eaton’s horticulture industry experience is extensive, and his track record is impressive. Having worked in sales of two horticultural LED lighting companies he has a deep understanding of the horticulture lighting applications as well as the competitive landscape in North America. His experience prior to this includes working as a controlled environment agriculture consultant and developing meters and sensors for fertigation and control systems. He thus brings a deep understanding of the market and growers’ needs to the company.

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In this role, he will be responsible for driving sales in crop science, cannabis cultivation, vertical farming, and greenhouse applications. Additionally, he will further develop Valoya’s North American reseller network within the cannabis market, as well as establish a local team. In meeting Valoya’s ambitious growth goals he will closely collaborate with existing customers, research partners, and distributors, to enable wider access to Valoya’s high-end LED solutions within the N.American market.

“Valoya’s ongoing commitment to deliver research-based, high-end lighting solutions is commendable. I am excited and honored to join the team and empower growers across North America to drive their plant performance to industry-leading results” says Eaton.

"We have been operating in North America since 2011 and it has always been a very important part of our business. Wes will build on this foundation to take us to the next level with his excellent experience and in-depth insight of the market", comments Mr. Lars Aikala, CEO and Co-Founder of Valoya.

Contact Mr. Eaton at – wes.eaton (at) valoya.com

About Valoya

Valoya is a provider of high-end, energy-efficient LED grow lights for use in crop science, vertical farming, and medicinal plant cultivation. Valoya LED grow lights have been developed using Valoya's proprietary LED technology and extensive plant photobiology research. Valoya's customer base includes numerous vertical farms, greenhouses, and research institutions all over the world (including 8 out of 10 world’s largest agricultural companies).  

Additional information:

Valoya Ltd, Finland

Tel: +358 10 2350300

Email: sales@valoya.com

Web: www.valoya.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/valoyafi/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/valoya

Growing Smart And Sustainable

“The industry has received much more attention this year, which has motivated the interest in sustainability. There is more focus on the sustainability of a farm, alongside with its profitability and the validity of a system,” Michael says.

Michael Martin is a researcher at the IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute and KTH Royal Institute of Technology, focusing on sustainability and industrial ecology. Michael has been researching the sustainability of vertical farming systems for a few years now. Currently, he leads a number of projects on the subject, collaborating with many of the Swedish system developers.

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Michael Martin

“I think that there’s a discourse used to promote or motivate why vertical farms are there. They’re often related to the reduction of water, transport, and so on, but there are also a large number of critics cherry-picking some of the more obvious potential drawbacks of the systems,” Michael affirms.

Carbon footprint and energy
For impacts related to energy, Michael states that it really depends on where a grower is located. Where energy use is key, for e.g. LED lighting, Northern European countries have great preconditions, with lower carbon energy sources and a supply of district heating. A large share of [district] heating in Northern European countries derives from the incineration of waste and biomass.

Most vertical farms are found in, or in close proximity to, urban areas, in residual spaces, meaning that they have access to heat. However, as these farms have stable ambient temperatures they don’t need much heat, and options for cooling are sometimes more important.

However, sometimes there’s too much excess heat in the building, which then needs cooling. “We have been looking into the interplay of the building and the farming system, plus the synergy of it. ‘What are the possibilities of heating a building with LEDs waste heat?’ There is potential for integrating the systems to the neighborhood so that the residuals, biofertilizers, waste heat and so can all be used to reduce wastes and improve resource efficiency through symbiotic development."

Smart growing and automation
Taking lighting conditions, for instance, by creating the optimal conditions for plants to grow. Typically one recipe is used for lighting and nutrients. But when allowing different optimizations through smart technology, everything can be monitored in terms of nutrients and water, etc. By being hands-on with the growing processes, resource consumption can be reduced.

There are new types of systems that are coming with a greater focus on product-service systems such as FAAS, i.e. selling functions and services instead of products. "I think that in terms of technology we can really make farms more sustainable. Automation and optimization of growing conditions can create large potential resource consumption improvements and optimize growing conditions."

For more information:
IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute and KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Michael Martin
michael.martin@ivl.se 

Publication date: Tue 15 Dec 2020
Author: Rebekka Boekhout
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