Such buildings might feed 30,000 people on a yearly basis, argues Swedish company

Sep 6, 2012 11:31 GMT  ·  By
Greenhouses the size of skyscrapers could help fight back potential food crisis
   Greenhouses the size of skyscrapers could help fight back potential food crisis

It has been quite a while since we first drew your attention to the fact that climate change and global warming, which tend to go hand in hand with extreme weather manifestations, could significantly impact on food supplies worldwide, and even lead to a crisis.

Up until now, it has been suggested that better managing water resources and fertilizers could potentially help human society deal with this growing threat. As well as this, several people argued that rethinking current biofuel production standards might also yield some benefits.

However, Oil Price informs us that one Swedish company known as Plantagon came up with a rather innovative solution: greenhouses the size of skyscrapers.

Come to think about it, the idea is pretty straightforward, as it basically states that, rather than expanding agricultural lands and thus destroy even more areas of wildlife habitat, one could easily choose to build upwards instead.

According to the same source, Plantagon's sustainability director explained that, should cities around the world agree to build such skyscraper greenhouses in the not so distant future, an estimate 30,000 people could have their food demands met on a yearly basis.

Naturally, in order for these innovative greenhouses to be able to produce the required amounts of crops, it will be necessary that whatever plants are grown inside them are closely monitored, so as to make sure they get both the nutrients and the sunlight they need to properly develop.

Commenting on this idea, Carin Balfe Arbman, presently employed as head of communications at Plantagon, made a case of how, “The purpose is to make it sustainable and use the resources of a city that we don't often see as resources.”

More precisely, “We use the excess heat from buildings to heat the greenhouse and also carbon dioxide from outside is turned into oxygen. And you can make biogas from what comes out of the greenhouse.”

Apparently, work on such a greenhouse has already begun in a city close to Stockholm, and it is expected that construction activities will be over as soon as 2014.