This Former Semiconductor Factory is Now the World's Largest Indoor Farm, Producing 10K Heads of Lettuce Per Day _ TreeHugger

8/11/2019 This Former Semiconductor Factory is Now the World's Largest Indoor Farm, Producing 10K Heads of Lettuce Per D

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4.8.2014 This former semiconductor factory is now the world's largest indoor farm, producing 10K heads of lettuce per day : TreeHugger

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10 YEARS OF LOOKING FORWARD

DESIGN TECHNOLOGY TRANSPORTATION SCIENCE BUSINESS LIVING ENERGY SLIDESHOWS SOCIAL

Derek Markham(@derekmarkham)Technology/ Clean Technology

July 10, 2014

This indoor Japanese farm uses LED lights and hydroponics to produce lettuce 2.5

times faster, with just 1% of the water, when compared to an outdoor farm.

When we think about factories, and what we decry as "factory farms," we probably

don't think very highly of them as being a key component in the future of agriculture,

but if we can take what factories do best, such as use technology to build efficient

production lines, and pair that with what nature does best, which is growing biomass

from light and water and minerals, then growing food in plant factories starts to make

a lot of sense.

Converting what were formerly industrial buildings into indoor farming operations,

especially in urban areas and locations that aren't conducive to year-round outdoor

food production, could be an excellent reuse of existing resources (the buildings

themselves, the infrastructure that supports them, and their locations in or near cities)

to help build a more sustainable food system. And this sort of operation can be done

in a way that's both highly efficient and productive (PDF), in essence turning our ideasabout industrial-scale factory farming on their heads.

In Miyagi Prefecture, in eastern Japan, plant physiologist Shigeharu Shimamura is

showing how it can be done inside a former Sony Corporation semiconductor factory,

This former semiconductorfactoryis now the

world's largest indoor farm, producing 10K

heads of lettuce per day

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http://www.treehugger.com/clean-technology/former-semiconductor-factory-becomes-worlds-largest-indoor-farm .html 2/7

using special LED fixtures and hydroponics to grow massive amounts of food in an

incredibly space- and water-efficient manner.

This plant factory is now the world's largest indoor farm lit by LEDs, and the 25,000

square feet operation is producing 10,000 heads of lettuce per day.Per day. Every

day.

That's a staggering amount of food, considering we're not talking about an enormous

plot of land, and because of the high-tech methods used by this indoor farm, crops can

be grown 2 times faster than outdoors, with just 1% of the water, and a loss rate

of just 10% of the produce(which can be as much as 30-50% of the plant biomass in

conventional operations).

Part of the reason that Mirai, Inc., is seeing such efficient plant growth is due to special

LED fixtures developed by GE, which are 'tuned' to emit the optimal wavelengths of

light for growth. These LED lights were designed to be slim enough that they could fit

inside the closely spaced plant racks, while also standing up in the high humidity

environment, allowing for uniform lighting to all of the plants. All told, there are 17,500

of these LED lights across 18 plant cultivation racks, which are then stacked up 16

levels high in this indoor farm.

The farm also uses technology to tightly control the humidity, temperature, carbon

dioxide levels, and the irrigation in the growing stacks, which is another key to their

success in drastically reducing the water required to grow the plants, while also

supporting maximum growth rates. When coupled with the advanced LED lighting, the

operation can make the most of both day and night cycles, producing the optimal

conditions for indoor food production.

"What we need to do is not just setting up more days and nights. We want to

achieve the best combination of photosynthesis during the day and breathing at

night by controlling the lighting and the environment." - Shigeharu Shimamura

This plant factory could be a harbinger of a whole wave of new-school industrial

agriculture, with the potential to add more food production near to where it will be

consumed, and help boost at least one aspect of food systems in an efficient manner.

And expansion is in the works, as Mirai and GEare said to be working on building more

plant factories in places such as Hong Kong and Russia, about which Shimamura says

"Finally, we are about to start the real agricultural industrialization," which will feed 10

billion people.

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31 Comments

BlackTalon53 .

Now if only salad had more nutritional value and vitamins than a wet kitchen tissue ...

Brett

Maybe lettuce doesn't, but the benefits of feeding lettuce demand using these kinds

of factories is pretty huge. This factory alone represents almost 38 hectares of

traditional farmland, which could be used for any other more nutritious crop, or for

pasture grazing. And the reduction in water usage seems almost unbelievable. I can't

see any good reason they couldn't do this same type of production for strawberries,

tomatos, brocolli, asparagus, etc.

BerksBound

Nowthe icing on the cake would be if it were solar powered! And why not - most of these

industrial buildings have flat-topped roofs where panels could be installed.

Nelson

Considering the best solar power is about 10% efficient it would take a roof ten times

the size of the acreage of lettuce to power the lights.

Antoine

Average Japan solar insolation : 4,5 KWh/m2/day

With 20% efficient solar panels, available energy would be 0,9 KWh/m2/day,

or 27 KWh/m2/month

Therefore for 1m2 of solar panels, you can produce, if a lettuce takes 1 month to

grow (not mentionned), 2,2 kg of lettuce per m2 of panels per month.

Since this factory produces 30 tons per month, you would need 13,600 m2 of solar

panels to sustain the power demand of this factory.

Such a 30t/month factory is said to be 1200m2.

Therefore, you would need to cover about 10 times the surface of this factory with

hightech brand new solar panels (20% efficiency) to be able to sustain its energy

use.

And this does not account for the solar panels needed to produce the chemical

fertilizers and the LEDs.

kydcmpr

ith little water and sufficient solar power, we can build vegetable factories in

he desert of nevada, so don't have to install all the panels on the roof.

revolution.

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Steve Lives

here are other ways to generate power from solar that may be more

efficient. Such as focused heat to boil water, and run generators.

Antoine

Agreed Steve.

Still I find interesting to put in perspective using PV systems, since I

know well this technology.

Also, as far as I'm aware, using a Solar stirling Dish (I would guess

that's what you're refering to) with about 32%, it would still need 8

times the surface of the factory to be covered.

In any case, this greenhouse uses ways to much energy, whatever

the source.

Steve Lives

You've checked out Masdar I assume?

David Patterson he Japanese seem to be very forward thinking and bold scientifically. Many great

echnologies are shown in japan. I'd love to see one of these someday.

I also hope that these plants can completely avoid pesticide/herbicide use because of the

environments they are in.

reedomev

Better is a home veg machine that automatically make the ones you like using sun

power which is hard to replace and free .

licia

ery few people have a large enough home to produce all their needs indoors.

nd in Japan, there isn't enough arable land to feed the population through

conventional farming. They import a lot of their basics. Indoor farming may

help them become more self-sufficient.

laker

pparently it's not that hard to replace...

reedomev

Sure if you want your costs to be 4x's as much. That great nuke in the

sky is free, how much do LED's, factory, labor and electricity to run

them cost?

laker

Apparently less that the downsides of relying on it ... or this factory

wouldn't exist.

BerksBound

It's too bad it's not run on solar. Seems it would be easy to install on

industrial buildings.

ntoine ccording to the powerpoint :

Production per day : 1,008 kg, so per month about 30,000 kg

Energy Use (there is a confusion in the ppt on MW / MWh) : 369 MWh or 369,000 KWh

herefore, Energy Use per kg = 12,3 KWh

o produce 1 Kg (2.2 pounds) of Lettuce, we would need about a GALLON of petrol
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(from the eia : 12,7 Kwh/gallon)

(This calculation does not account for embodied energy, the energy needed to manufacture

LEDs and other components. Nor does it take in account the energy needed to produce the

chemical fertilizers used in the hydroponic system (probably huge)

Loss rate of just 10% of the produce (which can be as much as 30-50% of the plant

biomass in conventional operations)."

In proper agriculture, wastes of biomass should not exist, as they are used in compost to

generate a natural fertilizer or to create energy through biogas.

No name

ow. All I can say is wow!

alebcrawford

Energy use?

laker

If they didn't use pesticides/herbicides... would this count as organic?

BerksBound I didn't see that they said they used pesticides or herbicides and not sure why they

would need to? They aren't going to be other weeds and very few insect pests in an

indoor environment.

Antoine

Nope, because they use chemical fertilizers. There is no such thing as organic

hydroponic in large scale systems so far. Maybe if they would go aquaponics.

Survival Acres

Lettuce should not even be considered as human "food". It contains next to nothing we need

o eat, including calories and nutrients.

http://nutritiondata.self.com/...

So dedicating an entire "factory" to the product of worthless "food" is perhaps a way to

continue making profits off of junk "food", but it's not "helping" anybody or "saving" the

environment in any way.

Finally, we are about to start the real agricultural industrialization," which will feed 10 billion

people."

Hogwash. Growing plants in artificial sunlight will never amount to feeding 10 billion. More

hypola hopium bullshit.

ssdsd

Why do you have to start complaining? its research isnt it, perhaps lettuce is easiest

to grow and experimente on, perhaps they are going further with tomato, potato, etc

etc but you're only seeing a lettuce farm. How hard is it to see that the principle is just

awesome, they just have to grow something else. You must studied a lot ;)

Joshua Barlow

considering water will become an increasingly finite resource this technology will

allow 'food' to be produced cheap enough to feed everyone.

Hide

I have no doubt you go far in life by only complaining about others' accomplishment.What have you done that we can benefit from ?

BerksBound

Lettuce may not have a lot of vitamins and minerals, but your hyperbolic labeling of it

as ' unk food' is ludicrous. I a ree there are far more nutritious ve ies out there but
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there is market demand for lettuce. If you want to go after foods mislabeled as

nutritious, try the meat and dairy industries. Their products mostly do amount to junk

food, and consumed in the quantities we eat them, are dangerous to our health and

most definitely a serious risk to environmental sustainability.

anielmitchem

lthough I'm a fan of small scale organic farming I think this is one answer to many issues

e face in a world growing tighter.

thas17

Ha...I read hydroponics and thought something else...then I saw they were growing lettuce!

RebelFarmer

I'm curious to know the source of the nutrients that are added to the water to feed the plants.

Is any of it fossil fuel derived (nat gas for nitrogen?) or from sustainable sources?

_d_k

his reminds me of a story earlier this week on the former Hersheys factory in Smith's Falls,

Ontario, which has just been switched from chocolate to medical marijuana! In the space left

over there are plans for a dairy co-op and other projects.

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This Former Semiconductor Factory is Now the World's Largest Indoor Farm, Producing 10K Heads of Lettuce Per Day _ TreeHugger