Abstract
This research aims to analyze the food–energy interactive nexus of sustainable urban plant factory systems. Plant factory systems grow agricultural products within artificially controlled growing environment and multi-layer vertical growing systems. The system controls the supply of light, temperature, humidity, nutrition, water, and carbon dioxide for growing plants. Plant factories are able to produce consistent and high-quality agricultural products within less production space for urban areas. The production systems use less labor, pesticide, water, and nutrition. However, food production of plant factories has many challenges including higher energy demand, energy costs, and installation costs of artificially controlled technologies. In the research, stochastic optimization model and linear complementarity models are formulated to conduct optimal and equilibrium food–energy analysis of plant factory production. A case study of plant factories in the Taiwanese market is presented.
Highlights
The purpose of this research is to analyze the interactive tradeoff of food production and energy consumption nexus of plant factory systems
Multi-layer vertical growing systems are installed in plant factories in order to save growing space in urban areas
This section begins by conducting a case study of plant factory competition in the Taipei First Fruits and Vegetables Auction Market; the nexus of food production and energy consumption of plant factories is examined
Summary
The purpose of this research is to analyze the interactive tradeoff of food production and energy consumption nexus of plant factory systems. Plant factories are advanced growing systems proposed for agricultural production. Multi-layer vertical growing systems are installed in plant factories in order to save growing space in urban areas. The average agricultural production per hectare (average yield) of plant factories is expected to be two to four times larger than production of an outdoor farm system. Plant factories use half artificial light and fully artificial light controlled systems. The technology for fully controlled plant factories in the cultivation of vegetables is developing rapidly in urban areas in Taiwan, Japan, and China, and can be applied to the cultivation of many different crops, such as herbs, fruits, vegetables, seedlings, and ornamental plants. Countries in Asia and the Middle East have successfully implemented plant factory systems
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