With the fast development of urbanization in
the world especially in China, megacities such as Beijing and Shanghai will
face the challenges of transportation, water and land for food, especially
vegetables. Against this background, one company in Sweden has developed the
innovative concept of urban agriculture grown aboveground using treated
wastewater. CRI's Chen Xuefei in Stockholm has an exclusive interview with Hans
Hassle, CEO of Plantagon, an urban agricultural company in Sweden.
Q: When we talk about agriculture, we always
think of rural areas. When you talk about urban agriculture, what does this
mean? What kind of crops are you referring to?
A: Urban agriculture refers to the industrial
production of food inside city areas or urban areas and normal vegetable
production you can very well grow in urban agricultural systems.
Q: How can urban agriculture be applied to
China's megacities?
A: Especially in China where you see the
rapid development of huge cities, we will see a future problem with
transportation costs. The distance from the farmer to the consumer will
continue to be extended. Where are we going to produce enough food? And that is
the second reason. Because there isn't enough land in the nearby area. The free
land will not be enough. That is the second reason for urban agriculture. We
have to find how it will be possible to extend growable cultivation areas in
the whole world. And this will, of course, affect China very much.
Q: Do you mean growing aboveground?
A: Exactly. As soon as you talk about urban
agriculture, you always talk about using as little land as possible and
producing as much food as possible with as little energy and water consumption
as possible. But if we stick to the first part, using very little land and
growing a lot of food, then you have to grow the food vertically. So you have
to build vertical greenhouses or you have to use facade systems on existing
buildings, because we can't use the ground. The footprint on the ground has to
be minimal.
Q: Are there climate restrictions when doing
this?
A: For normal technology, there will be
climate restrictions, because, for example, in tropical areas, you have to
protect the crops from pollution and other things in cities. And then you also
can control the climate in the system. So start from working with closed
systems. But once you start from working with closed systems, you can control
the climate there. In that sense, you can grow it anywhere in the world, even
though it might sound a little strange that you grow it in a tropical area.
Q: What about the cost?
A: The cost is much higher than normal. On
the other hand, we don't use so much land. When you transport crops between two
cities, you don't need the middlemen cost. You cut away the transportation and
other costs that you would have as a normal grower, so even if you have to
invest more, in a vertical farm inside the city, you get that money back with a
distant transport model. You also save a lot of money where the customers are.
About 60 percent of the total cost goes from
the grower to the consumer, the middleman's cost. And as we grow where the
consumers are, we can sell directly to the consumers.
So when you look at the payback time, it is
very sound. The payback time is about five to seven years.
Q: If you don't use soil, then how do you
grow?
A: We grow in liquid and then we use a
certain kind of stone. The stone absorbs water the same way that soil does.
Instead of using soil, we use a very clean stone. It is nutritious. For your
question about how we can ensure the food is good, it is because we can control
the system. There is no dirty water coming in from the outside. Everything that
goes in from the outside into the greenhouse is clean. Everything coming out of
the greenhouse is also very clean. So we use gray water, and then we clean the
gray water and put it into the greenhouse. So nothing is coming without control
into the system. That is why we know that it is very healthy food.
Q: When you say that you use gray water, is
that part of a circular economy?
A: Yes, that's right.
Original Article here
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