Vertical Wheat Production

Vertical Wheat Production

Morgan Kelly, Princeton Environmental Institute Nov. 2, 2017

Paul Gauthier (left), a plant physiologist and an associate research scholar in geosciences and the Princeton Environmental Institute

Vertical Wheat Production

A team of scientists led by Dr. Paul Gauthier, a plant physiologist from Princeton University in New Jersey, start out to calculate the maximum production potential of wheat under an ideal conditions. The researchers created two crop simulation models to simulate the growth of wheat on one hectare of land in a 10-story indoor vertical facility with optimized artificial light, temperature, and carbon dioxide levels. The simulated yield shows that vertical farming can produce at minimum 700±40 tons per hectare (t/ha) of grain per year, and the highest can reach 1,940±230 t/ha of grain, which is 220 to 600 times compare to the current world average yield of wheat. In their research, the authors describe that indoor vertical farming requires less amount of land area, water, herbicides, and pesticides compared to traditional outdoor farming methods, and reduces nutrient losses to the environment.

Obviously, vertical planting of wheat has great potential. However, the study authors pointed out that creating conditions for this type of output would require very high energy consumption, and this factor makes it currently not commercially viable. However, as solar energy and other new energy sources become cheaper and more popular, this situation may change in the coming decades. In addition, increasingly destructive climate effects, coupled with more than 9 billion people worldwide, may cause a “food shock”, which may trigger a spike in grain prices and the need for alternative crop production methods.

The authors wrote: “Although indoor wheat cultivation is unlikely to economically compete with current market prices in the near future, it plays a vital role in hedging future climate or other accidental damage to the food system. “Nevertheless, the maximum production potential has yet to be determined experimentally, and further technological innovation is needed to reduce the capital and energy costs of such facilities.”

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Vertical Wheat Production

SOLAR SHARE (THE FARM), 2020 CURRENTLY EXHIBITED AT: iMAL Brussels (BE) | 3 BIS F Aix-en-Provence (FR)

According to Dr. Paul Gauthier, a plant physiologist from Princeton University, New Jersey, USA

10,000m2 can produce 40 -230 tonnes of wheat production per year

According to .. , Australians consume 70kg of wheat per year = produce 571 - 3285 consumers annuallly

According experiment of SOLAR SHARE (THE FARM) prototype, by iMAL, Brussels, 2020

2,577 kilowatt-hours of electricity and 394 liters of water per year. Each to produce 1 metre of wheat production

If 10,000m2 of vertical farming requires 2,577,000kW of electricity/ annual 394,000 litres of water/ annual

Solar Panel (Electricity) Average solar panel can produce 165W/m2 per hour

Melbourne has atleast 2200 hours of solar exposure annually 165 x 2200 = 363kW/m2 of solar panel 2577000kW/363kW/m2 = 7100m2 What if facade design of the tower installation of solar panel It means it required 7100m2 of solar panel to self sufficient operating

Result

1. Proposing a vertical wheat farming tower (10,000m2) Volume of 40m(L) x 50m(W) x 40m (H) vertical farming Sufficient to providing 571- 3285 consumers annually Produce 40 -230 tonnes of wheat production annually

2. Proposing 7100m2 curve surface area of solar panel facing north orientation from North to North East orientation to macimise the solar exposure (Textile design)

90m (L) x 78m(H) = Solar Facade Design