Vertical Farm Project

I recently came across a site promoting the concept of vertical farming.

http://www.verticalfarm.com/

Of course, it all looks verrrrry interesting, considering the population explosion, the lack of farmable land, climate change and the need to find more sustainable methods of feeding people - this is all very timely and their positive arguments are pretty strong.

It doesn't look like any full-on vertical farms have been built just yet - I suppose really, it's still a concept. The section of the website that shows the various skyscraper farm designs is quite cool, there are so many different ideas. But of course, the actual build of one of these projects would be quite costly - and experimental. I'm very curious about the energy consumption of the buildings - the website claims that vertical farms could produce organic food year-round, which in my head says: energy-sucking-heat lamps, but if there is a way to harness sustainable energy, then wow, genius.

On a smaller level, a vertical farm could be an interesting concept for urban allotments, or even urban gardening, where outside space is really precious.

Photo is a concept by SOA Architects: http://www.eco-tower.fr and http://www.ateliersoa.fr