Energy-saving plant factory (EPF) for a low-carbon and sustainable agriculture and food industry

With increasing of global population, food security becomes more and more serious globally. In big cities, vegetables are delivered to city center from farm very far away, which leads to high delivery cost, high CO2 emission, and huge vegetable rot loss during delivery process. Plant factory can solve the problems mentioned above. We can also produce food using plant factory without the limitation of natural environmental conditions and time. This means in plant factory we can plant crops/vegetables and produce food at any time and at any place of the earth, in solar system and even in the whole universe. Plant factory is a promising agricultural technology. However, electricity cost for illumination accounts 50% of the total daily operation cost in plant factory. Therefore, our company has invented an energy-saving plant factory (EPF) using optical fiber light transmission and distribution system to reduce energy consumption. We produce the invented optical fiber light transfer and distribution system for EPF in the world to significantly reduce energy consumption in plant factory. Current solution reducing illumination energy consumption in plant factory is using LED light. However, energy consumption using LED for illumination in plant factory is still high. Therefore, in this project, we build up EPF. EPF will be utilized for producing vegetables. EPF is composed of light sources, optical fiber light transmission and distribution system, cultivation medium system, temperature monitoring and regulation system, humidity monitoring and regulation system, CO2 concentration monitoring and regulation system, O2 concentration monitoring and regulation system, pH value monitoring and regulation system, as well as air flow monitoring and regulation system. Optical fiber light transfer and distribution system, and EPF can be sold in the whole world. EPF can solve food security issue, as well as reduce cost and CO2 emissions in agriculture and food industry.