Excellent.

High-rise indoor farms for vegetables are spreading across the world.

In a suburb of Kyoto in Japan, surrounded by technology companies and startups, Spread Co. is preparing to open the world’s largest automated leaf-vegetable factory. It’s the company’s second vertical farm and could mark a turning point for vertical farming – bringing the cost low enough to compete with traditional farms on a large scale.

For decades, vertical farms that grow produce indoors without soil in stacked racks have been touted as a solution to rising food demand in the world’s expanding cities. The problem has always been reproducing the effect of natural rain, soil and sunshine at a cost that makes the crop competitive with traditional agriculture.

Spread is among a handful of commercial firms that claim to have cracked the problem with a mix of robotics, technology and scale.

https://www.pressherald.com/2018/11/03/ ... go-global/

CDFingers

Enjoyed the article. Of course, another step is to "paper" the outside surfaces of skyscrapers with solar panels to further energy efficiency. NYC skyscrapers were all supposed to be built at one time with natural gas generators to reduce pollution from coal and gas Consolidated Edison generator stations, but Con Ed fought tooth and nail against it--and its influence in Albany won.

Totally tangentially, the article had an ad and link to Royal Enfield motorcycles, which are trying to gain a specialty foothold in the US again. Like BSA, RE is / was better known for firearms.
But the old Royal Enfield India Bullet, an incredibly under-powered and antiquated motorcycle even 40 years ago, and was subjected to rather mocking reviews by Cycle World. Their new, hot, attractive advertising vid for their 650cc twin showed a bunch of people on 4 of their bikes, out having fun doing things that make a 40+ year riding veteran cringe, they were so stupidly dangerous!

But the spec sheet shows a bike still 30 to 40 years behind the times, despite EFI. A 650 twin, coming in a 450 lbs, making less than 50 hp is still an overweight, under-powered bike for the last 20 years. But they do look good, in a totally retro way, whereas the old "classic" Bullet looked old and weird rather than retro. Owner reviews were spotty with real QC and delivery issues in Asia, and, RE is playing down that it is Royal Enfield India that is making this bike. Prices though, are pretty cheap. The 500cc single is about $5K, and the 650 twin is about $6500.

Knowing how these kinds of things always work, I predict that before long there will be a class divide between those who can afford prestigious vegetables grown in sun and soil and the losers who have to consume factory high-rise vegetable products. Farm raised “organic” food will be a status symbol, as it already is, but more so.

I'm not so sure. I think the basic technology is easily imitated. If you could order the basic tech online, I think any room with access to sunlight could grow some goodies. Grow lights, too.

CDFingers