And for that we have a big edge.. the ability to cool down the greenforges thanks to geothermal energy.

This is significant because geothermal is one of the most energy efficient ways you can keep the temperature of an environment stable. It requires significantly less energy than the alternatives. They aren’t as widespread because they require drilling or excavating; which has a cost. But in the case of GreenForges we already have that machinery on site so it’s a no-brainer.

That synergy allows our underground farming systems to keep a stable environment for the farm at a lesser energy cost than surface indoor farms.

Surface Regeneration

Normally every time a new residential or commercial plot of land is developed in a city, it serves as shelter or workplace, often at the cost of existing farm land which will never go back to producing food.

But if we were to integrate GreenForges within theses new developments, the plot of land could serve both purposes - and help bring about some of the calories required by it’s inhabitants. Removing much of the need to clear land somewhere to make up for the lost agriculture capacity.

Overall the more agriculture production we move underground, the less space required on the surface of the Earth. Allowing for the natural restoration of the land on the surface. It’s one of the most exciting and encouraging benefit of our underground farming systems and pretty much the main reason why we’re doing this.

Now let’s have a look at the main challenges to overcome…

Challenges

In addition to the regular challenges of farming, these are several other issues to consider in the context of underground farming, here’s a few of them:

Economics

Our underground farming systems make use of complex and new technologies which are capital intensive compared to traditional farming. Just like most of the indoor vertical farms, the costs of building and operating them is a challenge and limits the type of crops that are economically viable.

It’s the reason why we are so focused on making efficient use of energy and labor; they are the main operational costs. And it’s also why we are focused on richer urban areas first, especially high end residential and commercial developments. This allows us to enter at the high end of the market and then work on yields, labor and energy efficiency in order to lower prices overall and broaden the markets we can access.

Geology

Surface conditions do not affect us but underground ones sure do. Things like soil composition and the ground water levels will dictate where we can put farms (or not).