I think there are two considerations. One is can we grow the same or more product on the same land using coal butter or algae or something else. Secondly, can I grow that stuff in a warehouse in on the ring road of a major city or in semi-desert land instead of prime rainforest growing country.
8 - Food Alternatives to agriculturally grown food.
I'm thinking vertical farms here.
If I recall correctly - and I may very well not be doing so - solar panel efficiency is between 20% and 40% sunlight hitting the panel converted to electricity.
Chlorophyll is about 5% efficient. It only picks up a narrow band of wavelengths. So I think you can take a 20% efficient solar panel and turn that electricity in to growing lights only emitting in the narrow spectrum required by plants and get a 4 to 1 advantage in usable "sunlight" from the plants point of view. So your 1 acre of farmland becomes 4 acres of growing space. And then you add additional yield from being inside and the hydroponic growing medium and so on.
I think rearing lamb and wool on windy marginal land under wind turbines is the logical choice but I'm not sure how the marginal cost of production stacks up against vat grown meat and synthetic textiles. It's one of the things I want to poke about in.
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timeasmymeasure
Re: Food
Date: 2022-06-27 04:24 pm (UTC)I think there are two considerations. One is can we grow the same or more product on the same land using coal butter or algae or something else. Secondly, can I grow that stuff in a warehouse in on the ring road of a major city or in semi-desert land instead of prime rainforest growing country.
8 - Food Alternatives to agriculturally grown food.
I'm thinking vertical farms here.
If I recall correctly - and I may very well not be doing so - solar panel efficiency is between 20% and 40% sunlight hitting the panel converted to electricity.
Chlorophyll is about 5% efficient. It only picks up a narrow band of wavelengths. So I think you can take a 20% efficient solar panel and turn that electricity in to growing lights only emitting in the narrow spectrum required by plants and get a 4 to 1 advantage in usable "sunlight" from the plants point of view. So your 1 acre of farmland becomes 4 acres of growing space. And then you add additional yield from being inside and the hydroponic growing medium and so on.
I think rearing lamb and wool on windy marginal land under wind turbines is the logical choice but I'm not sure how the marginal cost of production stacks up against vat grown meat and synthetic textiles. It's one of the things I want to poke about in.