This year the global population is expected to reach 7 billion people, this acts as a stark reminder that resources are becoming scarce and supplying food to the people of the world will become more of an issue than it is today. As our population approaches this enormous figure we must come up with new ways to feed the population and not destroy our landscapes by over-farming the land. There is a technological and architectural solution to this that is currently being developed. Skyscraper Farms, as I like to call them could potentially provide a viable option in the future for feeding urban populations globally, and as the population is predicted to reach 9 billion by 2050 we need to start producing workable solutions soon.
Large areas of the planet are now becoming barren areas as they’ve been over-farmed or the wrong crops have been grown in the soil. This is a big problem because as the global population increases the resources needed increase and the space required to produce these resources decreases. Due to this issue a rather ingenious concept has been thought up, the Skyscraper Farm or the eco-tower, as it is better known. There are currently a number of different designs for Skyscraper Farms out there and they mostly look to adopt similar technology. The idea behind the Skyscraper Farm is to use a building in an urban environment as both a residential, office and agricultural space. In essence you would be able to live, work and produce everything needed for life in one building. This is an ambitious project as it seeks to feed, provide water, provide working space and provide living space for everyone within the building. If it is possible to produce a building of this nature this would take a great deal of the pressure off our planets rural areas.
By combining hydroponics with solar and wind energy it is believed that it would be possible to create these buildings, and in a sense make them completely self-sufficient. The skyscraper acts almost as a giant greenhouse and most designs submitted thus far provide complete control over the amount of sunlight that enters the building. This could massively reduce the carbon footprint agriculture currently leaves on this planet. It is estimated that agriculture accounts for up to 20% of the world’s carbon emissions and by taking the production, transportation and storage out of the agricultural process we could massively reduce this figure.
I love the concept of these eco-towers purely because they have the potential to solve so many problems. By growing crops inside skyscrapers the need for pesticides is pretty much eradicated which makes our food much safer and healthier to eat. As well as this because the crops are grown in a controlled environment we nearly eradicate the problems extreme weather cycles can cause, strong storms can currently annihilate entire crops creating dangerous food shortages, this problem would become much less of an issue. On top of this the fact that the designs of the buildings look to incorporate a renewable energy source to power everything inside the building helps remove our need for power taken from fossil fuels or nuclear sources. The main aspect of these designs that I find particularly intriguing is the combination of residential, work and agricultural space. By doing this a huge number of problems are solved that reduce the enormous human need for energy.
As I pointed out earlier this is a very ambitious project and one major concern I have regarding the feasibility of it is cost. To incorporate all these technologies into one building will cost a huge sum of money and I worry that this may kill a project of this nature. Saying this however we’re currently moving closer to seeing the first eco-tower being erected in Las Vegas, this could easily trigger a domino effect and success in this project is critical. I truly hope this project is a success because it could easily revolutionise urban design but it will also provide a significant step forward in cleaning up cities and reducing the need for precious resources. There will be a significant problem in the future with living space and the global need for food, this is one potential solution.
What do you think about these eco-towers? Do you believe this is a feasible concept? Do you believe there are alternatives out there? Whatever your opinion please leave a comment and put your viewpoint forward.
2 Comments
Why do we have to see this type of retarded junk over and over again ?
Did you ever look at a solar farm ? Would you stack the solar cells on towers if you had to build one ?
Basic reason why above article is just plain totally mathematically unsound stupidity.
The fact is that skyscrapers being good shapes to increase density at the scale of a city is a total false myth (not even talking energy required to run them).
See below linked two pdfs for details :
http://iiscn.wordpress.com/2011/05/15/densite-etages-lumiere/
I present this as a concept. There are obviously some major problems in getting this off the ground and at this current moment in time it is largely unfeasible due to energy requirements, planning, architecture and a whole host of very good reasons. However, as we see developments in renewable energy, town planning, rainwater harvesting, intensive agriculture/horticulture and technology in general the feasibility of vertical farming increases. As for now roof farming is beginning to catch on and as we see this trend increase at least some (albeit modest amounts) of the pressure on the global food supply can be relieved. If and when vertical farming takes on it won’t be in the form of the designs we see today, it will be something completely different, but the concepts we have in place now provide a sound building block for innovation and inspire many to improve what is currently out there. Thanks for the comment and thanks for the link, this topic fascinate me.