Rising lettuce on stacked cabinets in high-tech greenhouses may very well be pretty much as good for the atmosphere as rising them in fields and might save 8,000 hectares of land within the UK, in keeping with a brand new examine from the College of Surrey and the College of Aberdeen.
Researchers studied a vertical lettuce farm within the UK. They discovered it produced the equal of 740g of carbon dioxide (CO2) per kilo of lettuce. This was corresponding to rising in a subject – however used loads much less land.
Dr Zoe M Harris, co-author of the examine and a Senior Lecturer at Surrey’s Centre for Atmosphere and Sustainability, mentioned:
vertical farms will help scale back the local weather influence of farming, particularly if their electrical energy comes from renewable sources.
“Vertical farming makes use of about 28 occasions much less land than conventional farming strategies. If all lettuce fields have been changed with vertical farms, we might save .
“That might release land to develop different crops. Vertical farms can be inbuilt cities, considerably decreasing the influence of transporting the crop to the individuals who eat them.
“Our examine is a vital first step in direction of demonstrating the impacts of vertical farming being greener than first thought, regardless of solely having a restricted data vary obtainable.”
In vertical farms, cabinets of crops like lettuce or herbs are stacked on prime of one another in a managed atmosphere. Vegetation can develop with out soil – drip-fed with nutrient-rich water and even with mist sprayed onto their uncovered roots.
Within the lettuce farm studied, electricity use made up practically 40% of its whole local weather change influence. As such, the local weather influence of vertical farming relies upon loads on how that electrical energy is generated.
The researchers additionally studied different environmental impacts like land use, water use, and water air pollution.
Michael Gargaro, a researcher at Surrey’s Centre for Atmosphere and Sustainability, mentioned:
“One of many greatest environmental impacts got here from the jute plugs the lettuce seeds are grown in. They made up 18% of the local weather change impact, in addition to the lion’s share of the water air pollution and land use too.
“Utilizing one other materials might make a vertical farm much more sustainable. Future analysis ought to think about alternate options like coconut fibre, hemp or perlite.
“We hope this examine conjures up additional analysis into the sustainability of the meals sector.”
The hyperlink to the examine could be discovered here.
