Using AI to Reduce Energy Usage in Indoor Farming

Indoor farming is the new way of doing agriculture, which is enhanced with the use of technology. However, while plant factories with artificial lighting (PFALs) can boost food production per unit area, they require resources such as carbon dioxide and energy to maintain optimal plant growth conditions.

Indoor farming, also known as controlled environment agriculture, involves growing crops in a controlled environment, typically indoors. According to a report by Fact.MR, the global indoor farming market is currently valued at $40.51 billion and is projected to surpass $118 billion within the next decade.

This type of farming utilizes artificial lights and technology to optimize growing conditions and enhance crop yields. As Jennifer Amann of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy puts it, "It's a lot of the same technologies you'd see in a building for human comfort, but being put to use for plants."

Due to the increasing demand for fresh foods with high nutritional value, efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change, and the need for higher year-round yields using limited space and water, there has been a rising interest in cultivating crops in an enclosed space. After all, indoor farming offers an economical, resource-efficient, and environmentally sustainable way of growing food.

Additionally, precise control over environmental factors such as humidity, light, temperature, and nutrient levels can be achieved to boost productivity and address challenges related to traditional farming.

Some of the popular methods used in indoor agriculture include hydroponics, aeroponics, and aquaponics, which have expanded the boundaries of what can be grown indoors. Moreover, the integration of LED lighting, the Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence are helping advance the sector.

For instance, in Texas and the US, vertical hydroponic greenhouse company Eden Green Technology controls every aspect of a plant's life at its 82,500 square feet facility, where seven miles of pipes deliver nutrient-rich water and cool air is pumped to create the ideal microclimate for lettuce, which is then sold to Walmart. The facility utilizes LED lights, which use programmed algorithms to provide the right amount of light, in addition to natural light, which makes it “pretty agnostic to the outside environment.”

The use of technology in farming has been on the rise thanks to its ability to reduce costs, increase crop production, and improve efficiency. The use of big data, IoT, robotics, and AI is particularly beneficial in automating farming operations. While GPS and sensors use a data-driven approach to optimize crop production, drones help in field inspection and monitoring of crop growth and livestock.

Using AI to Reduce Energy Usage in Indoor Farming

Now, let's shift our focus to a new study that used artificial intelligence to reduce the energy consumption of indoor farming by as much as 25%.

By incorporating AI into plant factories, we can efficiently regulate light and climate systems, substantially reducing energy usage in factories and saving precious resources while amplifying efficiency. These plant factories are essentially large indoor farms that boast complete climate and lighting control.

According to Benjamin Decardi-Nelson, a postdoc fellow in the laboratory of Fengqi You in Energy Systems Engineering at Cornell Engineering, if these plants all over the world use AI, it can help “facilitate crop photosynthesis, transpiration and respiration in these buildings.”

This is a huge achievement and can potentially help feed the growing food demand of the world as the population rises. The world population is currently at 8.2 billion and as per United Nations projections, will reach 9.7 billion by 2050 and 11.2 billion by 2100.

Combined with urbanization and climate change, there is a need to work on the current food production systems and make them more efficient so that they can meet the rising demand. Hence, the focus on indoor farming, which relies on technology to create controlled environments. This makes them less vulnerable to climate change and other factors affecting traditional farming.

But indoor farming isn't without challenges either. As per You, the current environmental control systems are simply “not smart enough.” They're energy-intensive and require careful resource management to be sustainable.

One answer is ventilation but while it can bring down energy usage, it affects carbon dioxide levels and moisture balance, which complicates plant growth. Here, AI can be of immense help by managing several complexities.

Artificial intelligence is already seeing a lot of usage in the sector ranging from forecasting yields based on satellite data, analyzing various data (field photos and satellite, weather, and soil moisture) to identifying crop issues, and predicting disease patterns by analyzing plants & then recommending treatments to reducing pesticide use by pointing out only affected areas. AI further helps farmers optimize resource usage and negotiate harvest prices by assessing yield rates and quality levels.

The latest study, meanwhile, used AI to reduce energy use in indoor farming. According to Decardi-Nelson, streamlining operations using AI to reduce energy consumption can make indoor farms viable even in those regions that have limited energy-saving opportunities. He added:

“By strategically aligning environmental control system technology with plant biology, energy can be conserved using ventilation while minimizing carbon dioxide waste and maintaining ideal growing conditions.“

A Smart System to Make Food Production Sustainable

Published in Nature on Sep. 9, the study used deep reinforcement learning and

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