Intelligent Growth Solutions (IGS), the creators of a vertical farm in Scotland, claims to be the “world’s most advanced indoor farm”. The company is boasting to deliver significant cost savings compared to rival facilities.
The indoor farm is the first from IGS, nevertheless, IGS claims that it has a system of power and communication technologies that will help it produce consistent quality produce at a lower cost than similar facilities.
How IGS Reduces Associated Costs
Intelligent Growth Solutions uses Internet-of-Things (IOT) to reduce energy usage by 50 % and labor costs by 80% compared with other indoor growing environments.
The global horticulture market is thirsty for new approaches to enhance food production in terms of yield, quality, and consistency. Intelligent Growth Solutions claim that its technology has been fundamentally designed to reduce power consumption and labor costs.
Focus on Selling its Technology Solutions
Intelligent Growth Solution’s business plan does not include selling its crop, instead they plan to sell its technology solutions to other indoor farmers and retailers.
Vertical farming proponents argue that it has the potential to dramatically cut the amount of water used with producing crops, eliminates the need of pesticides, and cut food transportation miles by enabling production in urban environments.
Critics argue that vertical farming will only ever be a very small part of the food production system, while some critics have dismissed the technology all together saying it is too expensive and unnecessary.
Similar Companies / Institutions
Visit Bowery Farming; according to an article in Fortune, they claim to be “the most technologically sophisticated indoor farm in the world.”
After announcing the Whole Foods merger, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos annouced it is stepping further into the fresh foods market by investing in a vertical farming startup called Plenty Inc.
Also, there are very interesting things going on in the area of hydroponics and aquaponics at the University of the District of Columbia, headed by Dr. Brunno Cerozi. Be sure to check him out! Great things are to come.
[via Business Green]
