Controversy over urban vertical farms

Vertical farms, whose surface area receives less sunlight than that of a conventional farm of the same size, require more artificial lighting and heat to function properly in all seasons, leading critics to argue that they are too costly to be viable. Another topic of debate is that there is no strong evidence that the production and transportation costs of using renewable energy on vertical farms are any more cost-effective than producing food directly in the countryside and transporting it to the city. Because of the controlled environment, the productivity of vertical farms is less affected by climate, the latter being more important as climate change will increase the frequency of extreme weather events. If handled properly, vertical farms allow existing farmland to be returned to nature and reduce deforestation, desertification, and other biome-destroying effects of agricultural production; and the closer proximity of production to the consumer further reduces fossil fuels consumed for transportation and refrigeration. Studies have shown that more than 70% of surface water is used in traditional agriculture, which often uses large quantities of pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers, and through the flow of water, these agents or fertilizers become one of the main culprits of water pollution. Producing crops in a controlled and regenerative environment reduces the use of pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers, and allows vertical farms to reduce water pollution. Producing organic crops in vertical farms is not only possible, but also a very viable production and marketing strategy. Water recycling is more feasible and economically viable in a controlled agricultural environment. Vertical farms use less water than conventional farms, and through the total evapotranspiration loss of soil moisture, vertical farms can convert black or gray water into usable water. Vertical farms not only use less water, but also recycle it, thus compensating for the evaporation of water by the plants, and more importantly, this recycled water is pure and can be used for farming or drinking. On the other hand, moving human activities away from large areas of land may be a way to slow down and then stop the mass extinction of surface animals caused by human-centered thinking, since most of the land occupied by humans is used for agriculture, so the vertical farm initiative would be a possible way to return enough land to animal habitats to avoid extinction while maintaining human survival.