[Pil-pc-oceania] Las Vegas to build farm skyscraper

[permaculture at apollobay.org.au]

That's great!  Do you know who's behind and constructing this?  

A colleague of mine, Boyd Boxshall was working on getting vertical produce
gardens happening on Melbourne buildings and skyscrapers in the late 90's. 
Although companies and councils were interested, there was too much
apprehension and caution (eg. liability of falling food (and the mess it
would cause) - even though boyd's designs dealt with this).
  
I haven't been in contact with Boyd in recent years... I'm wondering if he
took his ideas, projects and company, 'Bough house designs' over to the
US...  

It's great to see his ideas finally happening :) 

cheers
Fern


Original Message:
-----------------
From: Michael Cooper michaelscottcooper at yahoo.ca
Date: Sat, 12 Jan 2008 11:29:57 +1300 (NZDT)
To: pil-pc-oceania at lists.permacultureinternational.org,
Urban-Permaculture at yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Pil-pc-oceania] Las Vegas to build farm skyscraper


 
  http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2206656/las-vegas-build-f
arm-skyscraper
    Las Vegas to build farm skyscraper    Casino capital reportedly
planning 30 storey farm tower
  Joanne McCulloch, BusinessGreen, 08 Jan 2008
   

  
          Las Vegas is planning to construct the world's first vertical
farm tower. 
  According to reports at Next Energy News, the $200m building will include
30 storeys of farming land and produce enough food to feed 72,000 people
once fully operational.
   
  The eye-opening vertical farm is expected to generate $40m in annual
revenue - $25m from fresh produce and $15m from tourism - and require just
$6m a year in operating expenses.
   
  Nevada State officials, who spearheaded the project, reportedly claimed
that the building will be able to grow over 100 crops, producing everything
from strawberries and lettuce to banana trees.
   
  The officials said that the bulk of the produce would be used in local
casinos and entertainment complexes, adding that they chose to build the
project in Las Vegas because they wanted to clean up the city's image as a
party, drinking and gambling Mecca.
   
  Agricultural industry analysts are likely to be watching the project
closely. Intensive farm towers have long been touted by some experts as a
potential solution to the world's food shortages, allowing farmers to
generate high yields in controlled biospheres without using up precious
agricultural land.
   
  The tower, which could become operational as early as mid-2010, could
also be replicated in other heavily built-up urban areas, where produce has
to be transported long distances.
   
  Food prices are currently climbing driven by a combination of climate
change, population growth, high energy costs and the shift towards biofuel
crops.
  Around 80 per cent of the available agricultural land is currently being
used and the UN has warned that there is a serious risk of global food
shortages if supply issues are not addressed.





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