Plant Factory

Basics

• A word for a Controlled Environment Agriculture system that is large enough, and has enough throughput to be considered a factory
• It is cost competitive if not better for localized as of now for greens and sprouts
• It is counter intuitive due to the preference for shorter, faster growing plant varieties, and high edible/usable mass (ie little leafs, giant fruit, little to no stem, this is why leafy greens work so well)
• This means much of it's next success depends on Selective Breeding and Genetic Engineering of plants
• They are also intresting in that they make for great labratory's for testing these new varieties as all conditions can be varied, and high throughput means lots of possible tests/samples
• Typically use Vertical Farming , Grow Lights , Agricultural Atmosphere Enrichment , Hydroponics / Aeroponics / Aquaponics and HVAC
• Thus are rater energy intensive, but are often paired with solar and/or biomass power generation
• They also can be placed anywhere, even on mobile platforms such as cargo ships and IMCs

See Also

• Open Source Controlled Environment Agriculture Construction Set
• Greenhouse
• Vertical Farm
• Rooftop Garden

Useful Links

• A Youtube Series Going over Research on This, it's Effectiveness/Efficiency, and it's place in the current and future market