Canada: Underground farm in Quebéc to grow over 16 crops year-round
The concept came to life by looking at the limitations of current urban agriculture. There is just not enough space in cities for existing technologies to feed a significant portion of the population.
By Rebekka Boekhout
Vertical Farm Daily
Aug 29, 2022
Excerpt:
In comparison to surface-level vertical farming, the energy used in Forges is much more efficient, according to Nicola. As the temperature underground is stable, it’s almost indifferent to surface shifts. That results in the use of less energy to keep an adequate climate inside the systems.
While the lights are on, the cool soil helps to dissipate some of the heat produced by the lights, thus reducing the cooling load on the HVAC system. Conversely, when the lights are off, some of the heat absorbed by the soil will be released back into the growing area, reducing the amount of artificial heating required. “We also expect better efficiency in LED lights due to radial beam patterns.”
Commercial growers
For commercial operations, the company recommends at least 150 Forges so they can produce a large number. Such a facility would cover an estimated surface area of around 2,000 square meters. In terms of limit, theoretically, there is no limit to how big a facility can be. “Of course, there are engineering challenges with scaling up, but we are too early to make precise comments about that.”
According to Nicola, the concept came to life by looking at the limitations of current urban agriculture. There is just not enough space in cities for existing technologies to feed a significant portion of the population. “It has been estimated that even if cities were to build rooftop greenhouses on every capable building and fill the parking spots with growing containers, they would only be able to reach around 5% of the crop requirements of the city.”
