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Heather Hobson
Vertical Farming - Skyscraper Farms to Combat Global Warming
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Dr. Dickson Despommier, Columbia University professor of environmental sciences and microbiology, proposes that building crop farms on top of urban skyscrapers could provide food in land deficient populations and protect the environment. In a recent New York Magazine article, Despommier explains how 150 vertical farms could feed the entire population of New York City.
Sky farms are like huge greenhouses, protecting crops and from foul weather and contaminated runoff. Dr. Despommier even predicts a reduction in global warming because overfarmed land could be re-forested.
Because a skyscraper farm is a big-ticket item, such an idea is still five to ten years out. With populations shifting from rural communities to big cities, Dr. Despommier just might be on to something.
Despommier began developing the vertical-farming concept six years ago (his research can be found at verticalfarm .com), and he has been contacted by scientists and venture capitalists from the Netherlands to Dubai who are interested in establishing a Center for Urban Sustainable Agriculture, either independently or within Columbia. He estimates it could take a working group of agricultural economists, architects, engineers, agronomists, and urban planners five to ten years to figure out how to marry high-tech agricultural practices with the latest sustainable building technology.
(nymag)
Via: nymag
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