Future Technologies: Vertical Farming

Rick Novak and Joseph Scarpinato

What the heck is it?

• Think of it as a multi-storied greenhouse

• Located at the heart of the world’s urban centers

• Totally self-contained• Like having a huge

plantation on mere hundreds of square feet

Overview of Technology

• Cheap

• Controlled Output

• Less Pesticides

• Less Resources

Audience

• Urban Planners

• Venture Capitalists

• Food Retailers

• Governments

Population Demands

• By 2050, global

population will exceed

9,085,000,000.

• How will they be fed?

• 1,000,000,000,000 acres

will be needed to feed

this population.

Building

• $100 million per

facility

• 10,000 sq. feet

• 21 stories tall

• Steel super structure

• 100% artificial light

Start-Up

• Begin with lettuce

• Easy to grow

• Provide good

feedback for other

crops

Yield

• 470 tons per vertical acre

• Using only 2.1bls of water per lb of lettuce

produced

• $1.90 average price for head of lettuce

• Over $25 million in net income

Benefits

• Decreased water

waste

• Increased place utility

(less land used)

• More fresh

vegetables

Benefits continued…

• Non variable costs

• Known output

• Central location

easier for distribution

• Controllable

environment

More Benefits

• Year round crop production

• Easy to administrate for small/poor countries

• Returns current, traditional farmland to nature

Environmental Impact

• Self sustaining

• Purified urban “gray”

water

• Solar powered

• Geo thermal heat for

warmth

Environmental Impact continued…

• Eliminates agricultural waste runoff

• Recycle bio waste as compost

• No trafficked waste through urban centers

• Air purification benefits

Conclusion

• Cheaper to grow food

• Easy to setup

• Lower environmental

impact

• Sustainable food

supply