The Problem: Cities need low-carbon food and fuel to function and avert the effects of climate change and environmental harm caused by burning fossil fuels and conventional farming.
The Solution: Build massive vertical farms around cities that provide food for people and biofuel for power generation, which in turn provides power and heat for the farms.
Much has been written about vertical farming over the past few years (I’ll call it 3D farming in this piece). The concept is simple; layers of trays growing edible plants in climate- and light-controlled buildings, converting conventional 2 dimension farming into 3 dimensions, eliminating the use of insecticides and massively reducing water consumption. The major issues with the 3D farm concept is the amount of heat and light required and the associated cost.
At the same time, power generation continues to be a major contributor to carbon emissions and therefore climate change. Bio-fuels are seen as a potential solution, but often require land conversion to grow bio-fuel and transport to power plants, which causes environmental harm and emissions.
Combining the two together offers a way to solve both problems.
By building, on the edge of cities, bio-fuel power plants that are surrounded by massive 3D farms, a zero-carbon source of electricity and food can be created. Having the power generation and farming close to the city also reduces power losses from electricity moving long distances and lowers food miles.
The 3D farms would provide some of the bio-fuel needed for the power plant, with the rest coming from waste collected in the city. The emissions from burning biofuels would be pumped into the 3D farms to provide high concentrations of CO2 to enhance plant growth and also to clean the air (emissions might only be pumped into farms growing plants not for human consumption in case there was a health risk), making the power plant in-effect zero-emission.
At the same time, the power plant would provide the electricity needed for lighting the 3D farms and the waste heat from the plant would be pumped around the farms to provide the warming they require, radically reducing the cost of 3D farming.
The power plant would also provide electricity for the city, producing more power than needed by the farms, offering a cheap source of clean energy that operated 24/7. Large numbers of these 3D farm and power plants could be built around cities, often on run-down former industrial areas, providing cheap and clean fuel and food for the city’s population.
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