Comparing the Profitability of a Greenhouse to a Vertical Farm in Quebec
Comparing the Profitability of a Greenhouse to a Vertical Farm in Quebec
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DOI：
10.1111/cjag.12161
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发表时间：
2018-03-01
影响因子：
9
通讯作者：
Eaves, Stephen
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Eaves, James;Eaves, Stephen
无论天气或气候如何，对全年新鲜食品的需求迅速增长，正在推动对受控环境农业系统的需求。温室 (GH) 的销售额增长 8.8%，而垂直农场 (VF) 的销售额增长 30%。业界普遍认为，由于人工照明供电成本高昂，VF 在经济上无法与 GH 竞争。尽管如此，研究人员尚未分析 VF 背后的经济学原理，更不用说比较 VF 与 GH 的盈利能力了。这一研究差距与加拿大尤其相关，因为加拿大具有成为 VF 市场领导者的独特地位。下面，我们报告了对魁北克市附近 VF 和 GH 种植生菜盈利能力的详细模拟结果。令人惊讶的是，我们发现这两个设施的装备和运行成本非常相似，而 VF 的毛利润略高。
Rapidly growing demand for year-round fresh food, regardless of the weather or climate, is driving demand for controlled environment agriculture systems. Sales from greenhouses (GHs) are growing at 8.8%, while sales from vertical farms (VFs) are growing at 30%. It is commonly believed in industry circles that a VF cannot economically compete with a GH, due to the high cost of powering artificial lighting. Nonetheless, researchers have yet to analyze the economics underlying a VF, let alone compare the profitability of a VF to that of a GH. This research gap is particularly relevant to Canada, as it is uniquely positioned to be a leader in the VF market. Below, we report the results of a detailed simulation of the profitability of growing lettuce in a VF and in a GH located near Quebec City. Surprisingly, we find that the costs to both equip and run the two facilities are very similar, while the gross profit is slightly higher for the VF.