olderIs Las Vegas Planning a $200 M Vertical Farm?
Over the last couple weeks, news started floating around about a $200 M vertical farm planned for Las Vegas. The vertical farm would house about 100 different crops and sell them to local casinos and hotels. It would also have estimated annual revenues of $25 M from produce and $15 M from tourists. At a whopping 30 stories tall, this vertical farm would be one of the first in the world.
But I'm skeptical of this news because there is no reference to an architect, developer, or owner. There is no info as to where the vertical farm will go. And the original source used renderings of Chris Jacobs' vertical farm, pictured above. We've written about skyscraper and agricultural farms previously and think they will be the real deal in the future, but I'm not sure about this one. Anyone out there have more specifics?
Source: Next Energy News.
Good reporting Preston... there's not enough skepticism in the green blogophere, if you ask me.
Posted by: Tom Konrad | January 14, 2008 at 12:27 AM
Thanks Tom. Just trying to exercise a modicum of professionalism here.
Unfortunately, there are some folks out there that are interested in seeing bloggers and/or environmentalists look dumb. So I've been trying harder to vet ideas before placing them on the old blog.
Posted by: Preston | January 14, 2008 at 08:52 AM
I actually wrote about this "possible" development on my blog (http://greengolingo.blogspot.com/2008/01/what-happens-in-vegas-maybe-should.html) based on the initial report by NEN... I also did not find much more information out there on specifics either. However, i chose to write it up still primarily because the idea of vertical farming is very exciting, and given the translation of Las Vegas (fertile plains), even if this turns out to be more rumor than fact, maybe we should encourage it to happen there... Where would be a more appropriate place to get something like this off of the ground (no pun intended).
Posted by: Greengo | January 14, 2008 at 11:06 AM
speaking of the green blogosphere, we also just ran an issue-of-the-day on sustainability in architecture geared more towards the lay reader.
http://theissue.com/issue/8513.html
is the link. But smart post Preston, we might have a place for this blog in our Science and Tech section!
Cheers,
Nick
TheIssue.com
Posted by: Nick | January 14, 2008 at 12:26 PM
Los Vegas is the logical place for several reasons.
They have had a greenhouse based research facility there for decades. It's near the airport and pioneered several technologies: airponics, zero g farming for the international space station (but NASA doesn't grasp the basics of space colonisation so it never flew)and a dozen hydroponic/aquaculture systems. Vegas has some of the best people in the field.
Secondly there's no chemical industry in Vegas so the sewerage and garbage could be used to fuel the Vertical farm.
Water is scarce so farming under glass with air-conditioning is an important feature. Biosphere 2 is just one state away and it works as a tourist attraction.(They fixed the original design glitch.)
The cost in energy and haulage fees means Vegas has relatively expensive food.
Posted by: wsley bruce | January 15, 2008 at 04:06 AM
I have found Next Energy News to be a very unreliable source. They do love photoshop jobs.
Posted by: Lloyd Alter | January 15, 2008 at 01:50 PM
K, it looks like Las Vegas Sun also reported on the "hoax" in a similar fashion. They say these renderings aren't Jacobs', but Despommier's.
Posted by: Preston | January 15, 2008 at 04:52 PM
Correct that, there's a comment in that Las Vegas Sun article in my comment just above that purports to be Chris Jacobs. He says he has no idea of the farm (if that's really his comment).
A cursory search in Google of "las vegas vertical farm" shows a lot of people have mentioned this story:
EcoGeek, 11th Hour Action, Hugg, Momist, We Do It all Vegas, Kwoff, Ecofriend, Digital Journal, Pacifica Riptide, Yahoo News, Wikipedia, Elite Choice, Vegas Hipster, thaindian, Hapster Power, Blogowogo, Smart Economy, Vegas Today and Tomorrow, Business Green, The environment Site, Malaysia Sun, TrendHunter, About my Planet, etc.
Posted by: Preston | January 15, 2008 at 04:56 PM
Okay, I'm seeing Chris Jacobs writing comments on EcoGeek about this on January 14, 2008. If that's really him, it looks like we have another cooked-up, hoax story on our hands.
See: http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/1275/
Posted by: Preston | January 15, 2008 at 05:46 PM
I really want to see further progress on this concept because I think this is could be a solution to are rising food shortage…I am involved in a campaign to build the first functioning tower: http://www.thepoint.com/campaigns/vertical-farm-in-new-york-city
Posted by: Stephen | July 28, 2008 at 12:45 PM
We are vertically growing today! Please come and check out our Vertical Farm that’s successfully producing food at this very moment.
Jessica Brock
http://blog.valcent.net
www.valcent.net
Posted by: Jessica Brock | December 19, 2008 at 09:53 AM
Hi, some time ago I conferred with Shaini Coleman, Business Development Office, Las Vegas, about my plans on bringing a vertical farm to the city. She said she'd like to put it on the fast track team's plate. -- We are still in process of working out details with a very interested funding group. -- I'd like to know who posted the news about a 30 story building, and who plans to build it, it's news to me. Anyone out there know about the group doing the planning for a $200M building?
Posted by: Greg O'Neill | March 16, 2009 at 09:49 AM