On its website, the World Economic Forum mentions the cultivation of crops in skyscrapers as a possible solution for the world food problem. As an example, the World Economic Forum refers to the ‘plantscrapers’ of the Swedish Plantagon company: modern skyscrapers in which crops are grown vertically.
Although the first plantscraper has yet to be built, the World Economic Forum has proclaimed the enormous vertical farms to be a possible solution for the impending global food crisis.
Prototype
Plantagon has launched a crowdfunding campaign to source sufficient funds for the construction of the first prototype of the plantscraper in Sweden. The prototype of the plantscraper will be called the World Food Building and is intended to serve as an international example for industrial urban farming.
Reusable energy
According to Plantagon tremendous savings can be achieved by growing crops in a plantscraper. The Swedish company expects the sixteen-story prototype to produce 500 metric tons of food a year. Half of the energy used in the cultivation process will be reused to heat the offices also housed in the World Food Building. Plantagon estimates that it could save 1,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions and 50 million litres of water compared to traditional farming methods.
Change
Urban farming has been considered a potential solution for the worldwide growing demand for food for quite some time now. It enables substantial savings to be achieved with regard to space, energy consumption and CO2 production. Up until today, initiatives in the area of urban farming have always been on a much smaller scale. Plantagon aims to change that.
Solution
Plantagon sees a great deal of potential in its plantscrapers. “Our vertical farming technology is a solution to the food crisis caused by our human population growing so rapidly,” the company said in a press release. “The world population is growing quickly, but the world itself is not and vertical farming will make the difference.”
Source: World Economic Forum, image/video: Plantagon
