Vertical farming limitations and potential demonstrated by back-of-the-envelope calculations

Summary

Abstract Improving food security and reducing the environmental footprint of food production is urgently needed to satisfy the growing global population in a time of climate, biodiversity, and water pressures. Indoor vertical farming is largely independent of environmental conditions and is reported to reduce the land and water required for food production. However, vertical farming requires large amounts of energy. Based on the vertical farming energy cost, we derive from basic considerations a current minimum cost of ≈$10/kg dry plant matter. Vertical farming is therefore not currently competitive with dried cereals or pulses (e.g. wheat, rice, and soybeans). We also show limited current competitiveness for products like tomatoes and lettuce, despite a low dry matter content. Whereas the