Whether you are in a restaurant or a supermarket over there, 90% of the fresh food available in Dubai is imported from Europe or other countries. Today comes an important turnaround: Emirates Flight Catering is collaborating with the company Crop One to create a huge vertical farm of over 3000 square meters where lettuce, rocket, spinach and mixed greens will be grown.
Named ECO-1, the farm will use 95% less water than that required for growing vegetables in a field, and will require no pesticides or herbicides given its controlled environment.
Lighting, humidity and nutrients supplied to the produce will all be monitored and regulated by artificial intelligence within the vertical farm, and although this technology is quite expensive, the large production of produce (for the equivalent of around 2,5 million euros per year) will quickly compensate for the investment.
It will be a “green gold” boom, and this vertical farm is just the beginning
Thanks to the plan Green Economy for Sustainable Development, we will probably see a real boom in vertical farms in the area in the coming years United. And it is not excluded that they will all grow in combination with renewable technologies that will fuel their operation. The target? Outclass the current one Singapore's dominance on the topic of indoor farming.
The government of Abu Dhabi ha already invested $100 million in indoor farming. The core of the funding will support a local research facility focused on the development of new agricultural techniques and technologies.
In a nutshell: in the 60s the “black” gold boom was the Big Bang for the entire economy of that area. The enormous resources and wealth accumulated now represent a competitive advantage that will be exploited to adapt to the necessary changes, energy transition above all.
Will the United Arab Emirates be able to become leaders in "green" gold too? I have my doubts and don't know (as always), but I appreciate the try. A sort of "natural evolution" will take care of the rest, which seems to say together with our planet "go green, or die".
