Are indoor vertical farms the future of agriculture? | Stuart Oda

[@seth_5394]

That was the most TED talk sounding TED talk I’ve heard yet

[@SuperAtheist]

Since I've learned about vertical farming, I thought channeling in natural sun light would be better and more energy efficient than LEDs. Glad to hear they're working on it.

[@187mrsmith]

It can but during the winter time it's harder to come by... When the seasons change so does the light... That's why the LEDs make up for the lack of sunlight because they're full spectrum & mimic sunlight ... If you're going to do indoor farming you're going to have to use LEDs especially the way they're talking about a lot of the times you not going to have window access to channel in sunlight

[@assaultflamingo2.068]

Everything that Celtic said, plus the fact these are usually left running 24/7, so will need LEDs roughly 12 hours a day regardless.

[@googlenutzer8768]

@@assaultflamingo2.068 No they have to mimic the daylight cycle for best growing results. Usually it's 14 hours of light and 10 hours of darkness.

[@cristhianmora5962]

Not practical

[@jothain]

Nah. Just use pv panels. Doesn't make any sense to try to use natural light that isn't available throughout day anyway.

[@dt9327]

Ironicaly weed has been growing this way for years now

[@reyaan4239]

@Simon Jordan isnt it ironic tho? ppl have been boosting about this method about WEED. while now people are learning from weed and trying to do this...

[@anthonycoyle2889]

Yep 35 years

[@RickFaulknerStarsAndGuitars]

This will be perfect for growing Martian veggies

[@voidremoved]

@@RickFaulknerStarsAndGuitars dude there are no Martian veggies it is barren. So far Earth is the only planet we know of that sports vegitation

[@drpk6514]

No they were not being grown vertically at all.

[@HamiltonNgo-A24]

Bruh I've been doing this in minecraft for years now

[@mr.h5436]

hahahahaha

[@WarrenRedlich]

Thats funny right there

[@zawsrdtygbhjimokpl6998]

in minecraft water is infinite and plants can grow using torch light, which also happen to function eternally. I wonder how much a bucket of water that materializes a cube of water from which water flows out endlessly. My guess at about 1 trillion

[@2drealms196]

@@zawsrdtygbhjimokpl6998 If its freshwater, more than 1 trillion!

[@zawsrdtygbhjimokpl6998]

@@2drealms196 but it's still just water. In my place that much costs "0.64 Eur/m³". If it spouts out 6 cubic meters per second, which I already doubt, it'll pay itself back assuming the initial investment was 1 trillion in 8.25 years But of course they wouldn't be such idiots as to use it in a region with a lot of fresh water like mine and thus for example a Mars colony or the internation space station could have a higher demand for it. The questions is how demanding though this would also depend on whether you can scoop up the water with the bucket and place it elsewhere

[@Dionyzos]

So many exciting technologies being developed. Vertical farming, cultured meat, battery technology and much more. We're living in truly exciting times and it gives me hope for our future.

[@squamish4244]

It gives me hope that if we trash this planet we can still survive while keeping our civilization intact.

[@Hmonks]

I think the coronavirus is sorting out our future and shaping for a new age, sadly.

[@fuzzywzhe]

All of these are dead ends. Vertical farming requires electricity to do it, and lots of it. Just use the sun. Cultured meat is just a bad idea. The second we aren't dependent on cows and chickens, etc - they will be as common as lions are today.

[@alexandermatheisen9830]

@@kurapikakurta3863 That is wrong. In Germany, not even half of the electricity is generated by renewable sources (around 40-45%).

[@carbm5195]

Gives me dread

[@Lunareon]

This solves so many problems. I hope it gets widely adopted fast. The ultimate dream is to have a fully automated mini farm in each home. People are already growing herbs and vegetables in small apartments, this technology will make that more efficient, too.

[@VincentFischer]

Doing this at home for over a decade... But don't tell the police!

[@perfectimperfectness3519]

Vincent Fischer 😆🤣

[@2drealms196]

The Bayerische Staatliche Polizei have been informed about your cannabis growing activities.

[@bobpaterson1511]

whats your address..

[@bobpaterson1511]

whats your address

[@yuvrajagarwal6816]

😂😂

[@Julia-lk8jn]

Just not throwing away 1/3 of the fruits/vegetables we produce seems to be the most obvious step to start with! Look for shops which offer imperfect produce, buy there.

[@cd6693]

I had doubts on the viability of VF when I was writing the paper, but after this video I felt confident.

[@IAmNumber4000]

Ah, problems that other people are solving for me. My favorite type of problem.

[@STONJAUS_FILMS]

Wait for the bill

[@pongop]

That's almost as good as problems that solve themselves :)

[@jalesoylugil984]

This is really interesting he mentioning his last name because "oda" means chamber in turkish and it is an indoor space.

[@petro5911]

ben de o kısmına şaşırmıştım gerçekten :Dd

[@EspenLodden]

Nice summary. I wish you talked more about the biggest challenge : the energy consumption. Great area use in combination with Nuclear power. I doubt it's better than regular farms wet area use if you use solar power.

[@Greenskies321]

Nice speech & wanna add that going vertical on the racks provides even a greater ROI on Sq ft usage AND is better for airflow circulation than horizontal. Good work

[@cd6693]

This really helped to write my research project paper! Thank you! :-)

[@XiyuYang]

3:53 That's exactly the bottleneck of vertical farming. The expenditure of utilizing full spectrum LEDs (or purple/blue light, for that matter) is still quite high, making this business model relatively expensive. Other aspects to consider are logistics (who do you want to sell to, when, where, transportation etc) and expertise.

[@deanfowles3707]

fiber optics

[@shubhamagnihotri190]

This presentation was available on internet 10 years ago

[@BrowncoatGofAZ]

CEA for the win. I’ve actually worked in a container greenhouse; it was pretty interesting actually. I hope that the recent innovations in green energy technology makes vertical farming more common.

[@shashwattiwari3448]

Where did you work?

[@BrowncoatGofAZ]

@@shashwattiwari3448 university of Arizona in the US

[@shashwattiwari3448]

I am a vertical farming and hydroponics enthusiast. About to start with the practical stuff and research more. I have some business ideas for the same. Need to research on cost reduction. Would like to connect with you and would like to know your personal experience and learnings. Hope that’s fine with you !!!!!

[@shashwattiwari3448]

@@BrowncoatGofAZ would like to connect !! Hope that’s fine with you

[@CasualTraining]

I thought it was amazing what they're doing with these farms as part of Israel's exhibition at the 2015 Milan EXPO; now we have the means to seriously implement this amazing technology worldwide. There may be hope for the future guys :)

[@187mrsmith]

I always thought about that in the movie interstellar when they were going to run out of food why didn't they just start growing in their houses using LED lights and just start growing food that way!

[@FrancoSciaraffia]

then the movie wouldn't have existed xD

[@187mrsmith]

@@FrancoSciaraffia lol true but come on really to go out to a black hole in order to do the gravity thing so you can be able to make food or w.e smh it's a little easier just growing the food in your house on top of being more realistic cuz from what we're told once you go in a black hole there's no returning so it is what it is I understand it's a movie & Hollywood lol but c'mon

[@joannot6706]

@@187mrsmith Even the best movies have plot holes.

[@kharis7602]

@@joannot6706 so true

[@squamish4244]

The black hole sucked in the plot hole.

[@TheRealGuywithoutaMustache]

Agriculture will definitely have to change, if we want it to flourish without having to worry about the environment

[@theworldeatswithyou]

Here's the problem: The rent is too damn high!

[@uclevan1002]

2 parties that share your profits. I rented it to you, it just makes the restaurant's landscape more beautiful, and you still have the benefit of getting free vegetables. Or both parties can agree. This is a way not to lose your rental price.

[@kauigirl808]

Land is cheap.

[@umnajdi]

@@kauigirl808 as the dude said, it is well suited for under used properties, small unused areas in buildings, roof tops, unusable spaces exist everywhere in the city which can be rented much cheaper than regular spaces

[@coolioso808]

Yep. The problem is that solving problems in our stupid, outdated economic system is tied to money and markets not actually natural resources and technology. Every great idea is hindered because of it. Vertical farms could be in every country and major city by now. But our economic system prohibits that.

[@ideaccounting]

electricity expenses

[@spiritualnoob8237]

The good thing about this is how short travelled the food would get, each city could have a center of vertical farms

[@r.michaelherberger9677]

You should do the growth houses on top of buildings. You could use the building climate controls and have all the sun you need. Roofs that are not used for solar, put a greenhouse on top.

[@funkysquirrel3120]

What is the cost to grow 1kg of food this way compared to conventional methods? That will be the reason it hasn't caught on yet (Unless you're growing a different kind of cash crop).

[@dougroyce5784]

I've been saying this for years. It makes the most sense.

[@KURTrek]

Doug Royce , why use LED when there’s a FREAKIN SUN RIGHT THERE OUTSIDE

[@No-Thy-Self]

I love your vision, passion, and effort, Stuart! Thank you for the information! I am watching your talk twice in a row and will be looking into your work more. About your name, I've heard things about one's name being predictive or determinative, and I can understand how that could be so, but I wonder if maybe your interest in agriculture is also because thinking about and working in agriculture is still really important (as you outlined so well) and your name is reflective of work that your ancestor was doing at the time when last names became a thing, farming being a pretty common occupation for the last 12,000 years. Just a thought.

[@Rhygenix]

So glad he brought up Fibre optic cables. thought about that 10 years ago.

[@gabrielxavier2676]

The problem is that many types of glass will block uv light, what would decrease the usefulness for the purpose with multiple plants. That's why they may need to be "specially tailored"

[@Alexa-Raine]

I hope to see this prevent nationwide outbreaks of E-Coli and such. Keeping it to certain areas where the food is grown and eaten.

[@smittyflufferson1299]

Hopefully there will be more and more meaningful employment opportunities in improving sustainability. I particularly support this and cultured meat since it will reduce agricultural land usage and let nature reclaim land to help protect biodiversity.

[@WarrenRedlich]

Would be good to have a sense of how one can start such a project, like in a container, and how much it costs to get going.

[@bobpaterson1511]

plenty of costing info out there..

[@jadehunter7617]

Thank you very much. This is such fantastic news. I hope that you can get it off the ground and put everywhere all over the world. We would not have to have the use of big semi trucks on the freeway also. If they would put this kind of growing food in the cities and even some in the outline cities. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Bless you. God bless you.

[@bens6n168]

No pesticides or sickness, better land usage and accessibility, hope this technology is getting used more often.

[@DylanAlexander93]

Just had a virtual salad and let me tell you I havent experienced any glitches yet today

[@dawnpalmby5100]

Building into the ground like a basement is natural block from any weather and using geothermal heating would cut down on the need for insulation Having a greenhouse roofing could be utilized in certain areas instead of relying on just LED lighting Rain water collection using black tubing and rain bins, keep water warm in cool climates and colder climates can use solar powered heating and water treatment system would be needed for water collection and distribution which could also b powered solar or geothermal energy These can be done on small and large scale projects

[@undecidedgenius]

I am not sure if it is a obstacle or not but I would think that it would eventually be moved into peoples homes. I have an attic and basement that are not used that much and if the growing was pretty much automated, I would think that many would move the farm into their homes.

[@stephsexoticpets]

This is awesome! As an Environment & Sustainability major, I LOVEEE this type of innovation.

[@TheMattBay]

Awesome! The futurumet! Makes me wanna start some hydroponic farming right away!

[@jacobceniceros1777]

Imagine a restaraunt that grows all of it's own produce. Selecting traits that changes the flavor profile to complement their cuisine perfectly creating a unique experience for their customers.

[@danielsayre3385]

Yes I would like to order the apple pie flavored beet

[@paiger.3055]

I’ve been doing research on this for a scholarship and I’ve been so interested in doing research toward it

[@lucaafferri4236]

It all sounds very fancy and this may be the future but honestly he has only shown pictures of salad. I wonder how this can be possible with veg like cauliflower, artichoke, pineapple and so on. Not to mention all the things that grow underneath the soil (potatoes, ...). Last but not least would you be happy to see instead of actual fields container-fields?

[@tellingfoxtales]

The main problem so far is that nothing that can meet our caloric needs is currently produced to my knowledge. Definitely watching this space though.

[@johnnyenglish47]

So what is the calorie density of one of these operations? Calories/acre and calories/energy input?

[@Julia-lk8jn]

calories/ acre would definitely be a lot better given the numbers he stated. calories /energy ... given how much food is being transported from one country (or even continent!) to the other, cutting out those transport routes should easily make up for the LED light. And if you've ever seen the machines used for spraying pesticides and fertilizer (imagine a fair ground attraction having pulled free and slowly walking over a field, it's close to that) ... I'd say the calories/energy input has to be beneath that of conventional farming.

[@Buildings1772]

2 problems. rent and energy prices. how much power do those LEDs use per m^2 ?

[@gamurarandrei2657]

well, they are very efficient

[@varshinigirish]

get solar energy to power it and it's free

[@Buildings1772]

@@varshinigirish thats kinda dumb. would be more efficient to just shine the sun light directly onto the plants

[@Buildings1772]

@@varshinigirish ie normal farming

[@varshinigirish]

@@Buildings1772 Of course, but using these lights can enable growing food on levels which unfortunately the sun can't do. Just convert that energy into electricity and you can use it day/night, regardless of the atmospheric conditions outside

[@R-Rpt]

I have been researching and admiring this issue for 4 years, I am definitely burning with the dream of building such a farm. But my financial means do not allow. I think how to make money to establish this farm and realize my dream, I developed myself in cultivation of cultivated mushrooms and soon I will start mushroom cultivation, with the income I will establish a hydroponic garden.

[@alkasoli4002]

Plants love outdoors and natural resources

[@RobertMilesAI]

Part of the value of this may be in getting around zoning laws. It's not legal to have a farm in the middle of most cities. But I guess if it's just a cabinet inside another business, it's too small to 'count'?

[@zeromancer-x]

I think I'm gonna build one of these for my personal use.

[@Julia-lk8jn]

I'll start with vertical farming. I've seen those columns they use offered for sale, and I think it's worth the investment.

[@skyshark88]

Laws in cities could be changed for all new architecture has a vegetable growth footprint to produce said produce per individual residing or working in a building...

[@Creepy-Girl]

I need one of these in my backyard, just need to get a house first.

[@jefflund9134]

ive been bush gardening for about 20 years in total if you count the apple trees. there are smartphone apps now to help ID herbs and edible plants, people just need to get out more and connect with the land and the waters until it really sinks into their heads that it must be preserved over all costs.

[@italodalmasneto1701]

Nice topic. I own a solar power company, and I would like to start working with vertical farms. Any ideas? thanks.

[@shielanotado4387]

solar-powered vertical farms would be easier for you then. Try searching a company named square root. What they are doing there is fascinating.

[@1thank2you3]

I wouldn't be surprised to see our future home all come with a mandatory grow room just like pantry room.

[@Steve01ification]

Sounds like a great idea.

[@ashishathani5302]

In India there are a few companies doing vertical farming projects but they mainly produce turmeric and claim that one acre produces hundred acres equivalent turmeric. The cost of errection of one acre vertical farm is around 1.5 crores INR (2,15,000/- USD)

[@prachipatrikar1539]

I also came across this.. but I doubt on 100acres produce in 1acre.. when I contacted they said 2.5cr per acres installation cost.? Do you think its possible

[@isupeene]

The mass of all the food waste we produce is about 30% of the mass of all the food we produce. That's not the same as saying 30% of food is wasted, as this "food waste" includes things like banana peels, egg shells, coffee grounds, avocado pits, etc, which while certainly "food waste" are not in any reasonable sense "wasted food".

[@kajlauritzen9765]

You're wrong.

[@kajlauritzen9765]

Okay, Someone by the name of Super Saber made a comment that I can't find again. The 30 pct. food waste is not banana peels, coconut shells etc. It's consumable produce . Apples with small spots. Cucumbers with the 'wrong' shape. Lettuceheads with a couple of brown leaves. Tomatoes a day too ripe. Potatoes that don't fit the size they think costumers want. And so on. We can all agree that the remains don't belongs in the bin, they should be in the compost .

[@tbur8901]

The environmental solution is not just in vertical pharming itself, but much more in the natural space that's freed up by it which can be used to restore nature, food forestry and free range livestock.

[@jdgang70]

And how much food is thrown away. What happens when corporate AG starts to get involved? Are they going to make it all corn and soybean? Is this going to allow land to be reused for more forest? or will corporate AG just build more buildings, ie using up more land just to maximize profits.

[@spuriousc]

Currently these farms have only made these efficiency gains with leafy greens. Fruits, nuts, and grains haven't been cracked yet. And, as all things, the answers to each of your questions depends largely on the monetary and policy incentives that will act at the margin.

[@smaragdwolf1]

vertical farming is good for "small" plants, like cabbage, herbs, salat, tomatoes, strawberries,.......simply all kinds of plants that grow near the ground. I saw Watemelons growing in a outdoor-vertical farm, in a video a while back. Stuff that grows big, like corn, mais, trees with nuts and fruits, are to heavy and unstable for this method at the moment. This is the kind of technology that gives you fresh, healthy food in any spot, no matter if youre on Antarctica, in a Bunker, in the dessert or in space....or directly in your home. A good designed aeroponic system for housholds for example can grow big amounts of delicious, fresh food for you and your family and all it needs is some electricity and a nutrient solution that you can mix yourself or buy. That makes you more independent from big companies and reduces the risk of contaminated food. Do you have old empty warehouse near you? or other dead industrial areas? Than you could build up a vertical farm in it. Apparantly, plants grow much faster, when their roots arent in soil, but exposed to air and a nutrient solution. In a video i saw, they said that preparing the Seedlings takes 2-3 weeks until they can be "planted" in the system. After that you can harvest every 2 weeks a new batch of food, all year round. In normal soil, it takes atleast double that time, mostly even more time and you cant harvest it all year.

[@Sibogy]

5:34 it grows over 350 TIMES more food per square metre than a conventional farm... Not 3 times, not 35 times, 350... damn...

[@shielanotado4387]

I wonder if there are undergoing research on growing grains or legumes in such environment. Perhaps right now this just applicable to small herbs and vegetables...As to energy efficiency, there are lots of renewable energy sources that they can incorporate here such as solar or geothermal energy as what Netherlands is currently doing.

[@cebilebalufu]

for plants that need pollination, how is that tackled? curious

[@danarennick7003]

It isn't. Vertical farmer only works for single harvest, fast rotation crops like "greens". It isn't efficient for many others. Unless you get robots pollinating, it wont work. Also, most of the crops grown in vertical farms are not calorie dense. So we have a growing population that needs lots of food, so we will need more grains, oils and proteins. 1lb of lettuce is 63 calories and 1lb of rice is 591 calories.

[@akapilka]

Right now, manually (it's more work intensive than traditional agriculture). In the future (10 years from now), robots.

[@johnswanson217]

Maintaining nutrition contents is one, but it's quality is another problem. I always want some results comparing nutrition contents between ground-grown plants and indoor/aquaponics grown plants. + any kind of toxics comes from all those plastic-based plant cases ?

[@georgehenderson-walshe1592]

johnny west No, there are not. That is not how anything works

[@Philip_O.G.]

How about vertical farming vs farming kelp on sea. The only two investments you need to make is the construction to grow it in and the maintenance.

[@cryptotyc]

This is what Us cannabis growers have been doing for decades.

[@小藍-v3w]

Decreasing the waste of good is a better method than creating new ways to make more foods.

[@museumofdrawing965]

Electric cars that are driverless can run all day and night. What do you do with all those parking garages underground? Food production.

[@markusmatthew7044]

And more housing, and vertical charging stations for autonomous electric vehicles.

[@niceone7199]

Everytime i see a vertical farm, it only holds herbs and salads. I've never seen them grow potatoes, carrots, celery or other root vegetables, that will actually fill an adult stomach. Nor do I see tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers or other fruits. Is that not being done?

[@Iammaxtheking]

Trank you, Oda san!

[@nicholasklug4723]

There should be an abundance of city office space now post C19 as everyone is working from home. Someone should look into converting the old commercial space into vertical farms.

[@CUBETechie]

One 40 feet container has an are a 28m² but what the compact area you can use ?

[@PowerfulU]

Love this idea and it would totally change the planet.

[@clintdelaney4194]

I have a external hydroponics system and my wife and I are looking to do this enclosed system at home on small scale

[@hossamatef99]

your presentation is so good btw but if you want to do a feasibility study for a small vertical farm in some African or middle east countries I think there will be many obstacles in the project like electricity, water, infrastructure, lack of technology, and also the cost of the project it will be very high.

[@philippascholz4666]

I was wondering the same thing. Also, what are your opinion about labour being taken by robots?

[@hossamatef99]

@@philippascholz4666 unfortunately, until now there are no rules to organize AI and save us from this technology in the long term it will be a disaster only way to survive put some restrictions, in the middle east the situation is totally different it will take many years to absorb it, only Israel and UAE can move forward steps in this field from these two experiments in both country we can measure Consequences

[@geetabugtani9158]

How about insulation for container in NE America in winters?

[@Bananenbauer123]

Ending is hilarious

[@thecoolaxolotlnova8523]

I'll come back once I've finished the video

[@CrazyFanaticMan]

Ha ha.

[@DennisGinther]

You can turn 1 acre into 50 overnight. Welcome back, small farmer. Rent a floor and back at it. Up here in Minnesota where the sun comes in the window at an angle is perfect for year round farming. Just need all glass structure. We also have great wind power up here. Many excellent new wind turbine designs coming within that industry also. Watering could start on the top floor and trickle down to the next floor. All our buildings are sprinkled. Use the dam system! Instead of all these false alarms. lol. I like the idea though, very much. It will be our future. You can count on it.

[@wincentenglander]

Why does a 25% increase in global population mean we need to increase the food production by 70%?

[@juanalves22]

waste

[@adamshaw5999]

Cumulative use, decrease in poverty, waste, etc

[@Calzadar]

People wanting to eat more meat. A huge part of everthing we grow is just given to animals to eat, so more people wanting more meat or animal products is a problem. If everyone instead went plant based we wouldn't need to increase food production, just start eating the food directly.

[@juanalves22]

@@Calzadar good observation

[@pebblepod30]

Because per kg, meat production takes about 20 X more resources (inc land) than plants. 75-80% of the cleaning of Amazon Rainforest is to raise and feed animals for meat production, esp soy for animal feed. Even grass fed cows are fattened in feeding lots before slaughter, where they consume large quantities of this soy as animal feed. Soy for human food is 6% of production. I hope vertical farming takes off in this area.

[@danielsayre3385]

An important variable in all of this is that currently our fertilizer in the United States can come from heat treated human waste. Not all compounds will leave/break down, and so when we grow our food we will have bioaccumulation in both the humans and the plants. That needs addressed.

[@someguy2135]

This technolgy should be helpful for manned space exploration missions.

[@ΒασίληςΚουτσούγερας]

What about cereals - “large area” crops?

[@zachrobhan]

Could they use sunlight and a system of windows and mirrors to cut down on energy costs?

[@moritzkeller4502]

He is not answering the question, he just talks about how cool it is what his business venture does. Are there any sources?

[@KlimovArtem1]

Why just not to use sunlight, greenhouses? We were doing it successfully for ages. And, yes, you can use hydroponics, recirculating water there and even make it look cool.

[@chefrobertbulusan3086]

How much the cost to bilt 1 container van for vertical farming?

[@viktorblazhevski3151]

are there any blueprints or website that I can make a 100m2 farm under my house

[@devrajporichha6849]

Indoor Vertical Farming is Future!

[@swoastudios]

DUDE I LOVE TECHNOLOGY!!!!!!!

[@cengiztezel4576]

What about energy productivity? How many coal we should burn for run full spectrum led?

[@Cat-dh6dj]

Hello 小田，how could I meet you?? You are incredible!!! I have a 大田 in Indonesia, food are seriously important and wonder whether is it possible to build like you said?? Vertical Farm??

[@beadmecreative9485]

Climate change involves everything we survive on- biodiversity, clean air, healthy soil. With desertification and soil erosion from chemical fertilizer use, producing food is a fundamental challenge that will get worse with climate change. Even now, droughts, floods and insect infestation are becoming increasingly common place. Right now, there is a huge locust infestation in africa where food availability is already scarce.

[@think32]

Enjoyed this talk. I think that the line about his name would have been stronger as an opener than a closer.

[@marieandlexi819]

Thanks for sharing, love this video🙂planning to try hydrophonics soon and i've learned a lot from you......

[@やきそば-r4h]

This idea seems easy to be taken into practice.

[@arjuns1ngh]

loved this talk!

[@frenchifrenchi6438]

what tipe of bulb light is being used? he daid it´s led but it looks like fluorescent

[@redsun3910]

This technology has been around for decades in medical marijuana dispensaries and the hydroponics community in general.

[@GenuineFlolie]

This is significant!

[@tonysu208]

Wow! A TED talk describing my thoughts exactly when I came across this (particularly KZbin videos) a few months ago! I paired the high energy usage with the need to further encourage the availability of Green energy sources which are known to make good sense because for the life of the source, the cost is almost entirely the initial setup and construction plus maintenance, there is usually no ongoing operational expense (ie no fuel costs).

[@johnames1987]

I will take pointers about optimal doomsday rant delivery... that was a brutal and yet uplifting intro, impressive!

[@Freddie1M]

Why aren't the LED placed closer to the plants so that you can lower the intensity required and therefore save energy?

[@dennisgarber]

The Samsung lm301h does 230 lpw, while Cree hit 303 lpw back a few years ago (1watt 25C neuteral white) , but never made a high powered led over 202 before they sold the lighting part of the company. 340 is the theoretical maximum efficiency. We will need these 303 lpw LEDs to avoid a cooling nightmare in the depicted setup!! Breaking 200 lpw is the tipping point where the heat sink requirements go down exponentially. Heat sinks are a nightmare. Without hearsink, efficiency and led life beyond a few hundred hours is impossible. These lights need cheap power. Solar and wind are not enough. Fusion, ITER, is a pipe dream and a monopoly. Solar and wind help democratize, but won't ever be enough for our needs. Hydroelectric has a 80 time return on investment, solar only 7. Thorium is 2000 times return on investment. 4th generation of fusion, safe, is the answer. While there is 100,000 year supply of thorium, 2 years ago a cheap way was found for getting a. Unlimited supply of uranium out of sea water. Whether liquid molten salt cooling, or liquid lead, or the safe bead system, this is the best way to feed 10 billion people. This technology will save humanity when the current warm Holocene ends, which it is overdue to end. Getting off fossil fuels is a great ruse to make the conversion to cheap thorium, which can provide unlimited energy for a third the cost of coal. The USA dollar being propped up by oil is the biggest impediment. docs.google.com/document/d/1QRXG5JEFPr7C279rfaOAOWznY-JYcZ5l7PYZKM3cxL4/edit?usp=drivesdk

[@khanyasser]

Presentation very well done