Vertical Farms Tried to Compete with Open Field Farming. It Isn't Going Well
nytimes.com“What Gotham Greens can grow in about one acre of our greenhouse we believe would require about 30 acres out in the field” but what's the price of an acre in Brooklyn vs 30 acres in rural Indiana? How do you go up against free sunlight, free water and very cheap land?
* free sunlight: I agree. This is the main problem. This is the main problem. This is the main problem.
* free water: There are complicated water right problems (not sure about Indiana), anyway it's more like "under priced cheap water".
* very cheap land: Cheap land is far away, but transport is not so expensive, so I agree with this too.
It's hard to compete with free energy from the sun.
If only there was a way to decrease sunlight supply so we could monetize access to light. It would make vertical farming a much more real option.
Or, go the other direction, and make sunlight available at night in certain locations by using a mirror in space. https://www.reflectorbital.com/
Montgomery Burns already tried it