vertical farming

There was some people pushing for this idea for the Vegas strip. The thought was that this vertical farm could be a tourist attraction as well as a ready source of vegetables for the resorts.

Sure such things exist on small scales, but not on land going for fifty million dollars an acre.
That land would cost too much lettuce to be used to produce well.... lettuce.

It is sometimes striking how impractical engineers and scientists can be.

I guess you have to let them dream up stuff or nothing would ever be invented

The scientists are the impractical ones, since in the end all they do is study whatever they damn well please and hope they get something out of it. Engineers are the pragmatic scientists who apply the best ideas.

On another note: Something like this COULD be the future. I mean when the US is one big city sprawling from NYNY to LA and there isn't enough room to farm traditionally. That's so far in the future though that to stipulate with today's technologies what it will be like then is foolish.

Not on the strip. Yeah, the land value would kill that idea.

But what about on some desert land on the route between Vegas and the Hoover Dam. It may or may not become a tourist attraction, but it would certainly be a conversation starter. And how much can the land cost there?

Near a source of excess heat such as a utility plant is what is in use now in some areas.
Cost of transportation from nowhere in the desert might kill the idea even though Vegas is willing to fly in all those shrimp from California and Mexico, I doubt they would be interested in salad greens.
Now a high ticket item such as truffles or something... yeah, that might work.

Well the land on the strip never got as high as $50 million per acre. I think they were pushing for an industrial area near the interstate. But the thought was that tourism would be part of the concept, and would supplement some of the costs. I also think that they would want some hotel rooms nearby for visitors for conferences.

The idea is to develop the concept for urban areas. It wouldn't make sense for it to be nowhere.

Maybe some of those huge empty lots on flamingo next to UNLV where they are working on technology to harness solar power.
Agritourism is becoming increasingly popular.

Quote: pacomartin

Agritourism is becoming increasingly popular.

Maybe I should take a trip to Dwight Schrute's beet farm then!

But seriously, with the California bread basket so close, why would you embark on this endeavor?

While it is true that the monetary cost of shipping food all around the world is inexpensive, there is a great deal of concern for the environmental cost. If the tax structure changes so that carbon footprints become increasingly important, then it will be critical to grow more food where it is consumed. Most of the truck farms in the Las Vegas Valley have been swallowed up by development.

It is similar to the train argument to Southern California. Right now flying is a relatively inexpensive option for one or two people, while driving is inexpensive for more than 2. But that economic situation could radically change in the near future.

Someone mentioned truffles for the vertical farms, but I doubt that the economic support the need for growing expensive food. You are already paying such a premium that the transport costs are probably a negligible part of the price. I would think what would matter would be relatively mundane items like lettuce and tomatoes.

Vegas is a good place to experiment because it is already fairly hot, and has high levels of natural light.

Most European countries are trying desperately to minimize domestic flying in favor of high speed rail. They are planning for the future as much as for the present.