This Farm of the Future Uses No Soil and 95% Less Water

You can't see it on the outside but this old industrial neighborhood is an agricultural Oasis. 
你無法從外觀看出來但是這個老舊的工業街區是塊農業綠洲

Inside this former laser tag arena about 250 kinds of leafy greens are growing in huge quantities to be sold to local supermarkets and restaurants. 
在這座前室內雷射槍戰競技場內正在大量培育約250種的綠色蔬菜，成熟後將會販售給當地的超級市場及餐廳

This is AeroFarms, a massive indoor vertical farm in Newark New Jersey. 
這是"農業合作社"，來自新澤西州紐華克的室內垂直農場

Our mission is to build farms and cities all over the world so people have access to fresh great tasting highly nutritious food.
我們的任務是在全國城市裡開發農場好讓人民可以獲取新鮮美味又具營養價值的食物

Crops are stacked more than 30 feet high inside this 30,000 square foot space. 
在這個3萬平方公尺的空間裡堆疊超過915公分高的農作物

They're grown using aeroponic technology.
運用氣耕技術來培育這些農作物

Typically an indoor growing the roots sit in water and one tries to oxygenate the water. 
室內農作物的根莖通常需要大量水份並試圖將其氧化

our key inventor realized that if we missed nutrition to the root structure then the roots have a better oxygenation.
我們的主要投資者發現如果根系滋養不足反而會獲得更好的氧合作用

AeroFarms says the root misting system allows them to use 95 percent less water than a regular field farm.
"農業合作社"表示根莖本身的微霧系統使他們可以比一般農田節省將近95%的水量

They also use no pesticides or herbicides, instead of soil, plants are grown in reusable cloth made from recycled plastic.
他們也不使用農藥或除草劑，此外農作物生長於由回收塑膠所製成的再生布料而非慣用的泥土

And instead of the Sun there are rows and rows of specialized LED lighting.
代替陽光的是一排接著一排的LED電燈

A lot of people say Sun let's wait plants need Sun.
大部分的人都說要等太陽出來因為植物需要曬太陽

In fact the plants don't need yellow spectrum so we're able to reduce our energy footprint by doing things like reducing certain types of spectrum.
事實上，植物不需要黃色光譜所以我們可以藉由減少某些光譜來降低能源足跡

The sophisticated climate controlled system cuts the growing cycle in half so crops can be grown all year round but with a much smaller impact on the environment.
精密的環境控制系統將生長週期減半好讓農作物一年四季都可以增長也不會使環境惡化

There's all these stresses on our planet 70% of our freshwater contamination comes from agriculture.
地球承擔著各種壓力，70%汙染水來自於農業

About 70% of our freshwater usage goes to agriculture.
約70%淡水使用在農業上

One-third of our arable land has been degraded in the last 40 years.
在過去40年裡玷汙1/3的可耕地

All these macro trends point to the fact that we need a new way to feed our planet. 
這些宏觀趨勢都指出我們需要新的方法來供養地球

One of the early champions of vertical farming is Columbia University ecologist Dickson Despommier. 
早期垂直農法的擁護者是來自哥倫比亞大學的生態學家Dickson Despommier 

In 1999, Despommier and his students proposed that vertical farms could feed overpopulated cities while using less land and less water.
在1999年Despommier和他的學生提出垂直農作物只需要花上少數土地和用水量就可以為人口過盛的城市提供食物

They would also cut greenhouse gases by eliminating the need to transport food over long distances.
它們排除長途食品運輸的需求來減少溫室氣體

And the idea is finally taking root.
這個點子總算開始生根

Over the past few years vertical farms have sprouted all over the world including in Vancouver, Singapore, Panama, the UK and around the U.S.
在過去的幾年裡垂直農場在全球各地萌芽，包含溫哥華、新加坡、巴拿馬、英國還有美國各地

Here at Newark AeroFarms is building out another new farm in a former steel mill.
目前"農業合作社"正在紐華克的前煉鋼廠內打造全新農場

One that's bigger than a football field.
比一個足球場還要大

Once it's fully operational it's expected to produce 2 million pounds of greens a year.
當它開始完全運作時預期一年可以生產2百萬磅的蔬菜

All grown vertically.
全部都是垂直生長

We listen to the plants very carefully to try and understand what they're telling us and try and
optimize all these different qualities of a plant.
我們仔細聆聽那些植物並嘗試去了解它們後順勢將這些植物不同的特性優化

It's a tough business but it's one that's going to stay and it's going to have a bigger and bigger impact.
這是個艱困的產業但是它會存留並引起更多更多的影響

Do you think vertical farms will help solve our food production problems.
你認為垂直農場可以解決我們的食物生產問題嗎?

Let us know in the comments below.
在底下留言與我們分享

And check out this next episode to see how this major U.S. city is striving to become zero waste. 
查看下一集節目來了解美國主要城市是如何奮鬥達到零廢棄

When I started at Recology 23 years ago the recycling rate was around 38%.
23年前，當我剛開始接觸綠源再生時的回收率大約為38%

Today we've more than doubled that. 
現在的數字已經上升兩倍

So far, San Francisco has diverted 80% of its waste away from landfills and its success has been getting global attention. 
舊金山目前為止成功將80%垃圾轉移垃圾掩埋場也藉此獲得全球關注

Thanks for watching and be sure to subscribe for more seeker stories.
感謝您的收看並確保訂閱我們的頻道以便觀賞更多探索故事

 

Copyright Announcement: The above videos are  from the official Youtube channel of the organization. This Farm of the Future Uses No Soil and 95% Less Water https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJsSEDFFnMFvW9JWU6XUn0Q . The videos we selected are all publicly available on the official channel, and we do not own the copyright of these videos. Our work on Chinese translation for this film is free for the 1.2 billion audiences in Mandarin Chinese around the world to watch and learn SDGs and SROI advertising campaigns.