The Vertical Farm
Feeding the World in the 21st Century
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Narrated by:
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Sean Runnette
About this listen
When Columbia professor Dickson Despommier set out to solve America's food, water, and energy crises, he didn't just think big - he thought up. Despommier's stroke of genius, the vertical farm, has excited scientists, architects, and politicians around the globe. These farms, grown inside skyscrapers, would provide solutions to many of the serious problems we currently face, including:
- Allowing year-round crop production
- Providing food to areas currently lacking arable land
- Immunity to weather-related crop failure
- Reuse of water collected by dehumidification of the indoor environment
- New employment opportunities
- No use of pesticides, fertilizers, or herbicides
- Drastically reduced dependence on fossil fuels
- No crop loss due to shipping or storage
- No agricultural runoff
- And many more!
Vertical farms can be located on abandoned city properties, creating new urban revenue streams. They will employ lots of skilled and unskilled labor. They can be run on wind, solar, tidal, and geothermal energy. They can be used to grow plants for pharmaceutical purposes or for converting gray water back into drinking water.
In the tradition of the bestselling The World Without Us, this is a totally original landmark work destined to become a classic.
©2010 Dickson Despommier (P)2010 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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By: Thom Hartmann, and others
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How to Avoid a Climate Disaster
- The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need
- By: Bill Gates
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton, Bill Gates
- Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Bill Gates shares what he's learned in more than a decade of studying climate change and investing in innovations to address the problems, and sets out a vision for how the world can build the tools it needs to get to zero greenhouse gas emissions. Bill Gates explains why he cares so deeply about climate change and what makes him optimistic that the world can avoid the most dire effects of the climate crisis. Gates says, "We can work on a local, national, and global level to build the technologies, businesses, and industries to avoid the worst impacts of climate change."
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Be curious, not furious
- By Axel Merk on 02-20-21
By: Bill Gates
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The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels
- By: Alex Epstein
- Narrated by: Alex Epstein
- Length: 6 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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For decades environmentalists have told us that using fossil fuels is a self-destructive addiction that will destroy our planet. Yet by every measure of human well-being, from life expectancy to clean water to climate safety, life has been getting better and better. How can this be? The explanation is that we usually hear only one side of the story. We're taught to think only of the negatives of fossil fuels, their risks and side effects, but not their positives.
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A different point of view
- By Ballofyarn on 01-12-17
By: Alex Epstein
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Pandora's Seed
- The Unforeseen Cost of Civilization
- By: Spencer Wells
- Narrated by: Spencer Wells
- Length: 6 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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This new book by Spencer Wells, the internationally known geneticist, anthropologist, author, and director of the Genographic Project, focuses on the seminal event in human history: mankind's decision to become farmers rather than hunter-gatherers.
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Short and unfocused, but often quite interesting.
- By Alan on 06-23-10
By: Spencer Wells
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An Edible History of Humanity
- By: Tom Standage
- Narrated by: George K. Wilson
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Throughout history, food has acted as a catalyst of social change, political organization, geopolitical competition, industrial development, military conflict, and economic expansion. An Edible History of Humanity is a pithy, entertaining account of how a series of changes---caused, enabled, or influenced by food---has helped to shape and transform societies around the world.
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Flawed, but worthwhile
- By Ary Shalizi on 12-28-17
By: Tom Standage
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Water in Plain Sight
- Hope for a Thirsty World
- By: Judith D. Schwartz
- Narrated by: Tia Rider
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Water scarcity is on everyone's mind. Long taken for granted, water availability has entered the realm of economics, politics, and people's food and lifestyle choices. But as anxiety mounts - even as a swath of California farmland has been left fallow and extremist groups worldwide exploit the desperation of people losing livelihoods to desertification - many are finding new routes to water security with key implications for food access, economic resilience, and climate change.
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Crucial solutions
- By Shane Emanuelle on 07-25-19
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The Nature of Nature
- Why We Need the Wild
- By: Enric Sala
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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In this inspiring manifesto, an internationally renowned ecologist makes a clear case for why protecting nature is our best health insurance, and why it makes economic sense.
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Amazing
- By Lars Pardo on 11-21-24
By: Enric Sala
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Apocalypse Never
- Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All
- By: Michael Shellenberger
- Narrated by: Stephen Graybill
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Michael Shellenberger has been fighting for a greener planet for decades. He helped save the world’s last unprotected redwoods. He co-created the predecessor to today’s Green New Deal. And he led a successful effort by climate scientists and activists to keep nuclear plants operating, preventing a spike of emissions. But in 2019, as some claimed "billions of people are going to die", contributing to rising anxiety, including among adolescents, Shellenberger decided that he needed to speak out to separate science from fiction.
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Environmentalist with integrity!
- By Wayne on 07-01-20
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The Well-Tempered City
- What Modern Science, Ancient Civilizations, and Human Nature Teach Us About the Future of Urban Life
- By: Jonathan F. P. Rose
- Narrated by: Barry Abrams
- Length: 14 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Cities are birthplaces of civilization; centers of culture, trade, and progress; cauldrons of opportunity - and the home of 80 percent of the world's population by 2050. As the 21st century progresses, metropolitan areas will bear the brunt of global megatrends such as climate change, natural resource depletion, population growth, income inequality, mass migrations, and education and health disparities, among many others.
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The best way to save the future is to look at the past
- By Kate on 10-01-22
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A Revolution Down on the Farm
- The Transformation of American Agriculture since 1929
- By: Paul K. Conkin
- Narrated by: Kevin Pierce
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Humans have been farming for thousands of years, and yet agriculture has undergone more fundamental changes in the past 80 years than in the previous several centuries. In 1900, 30 million American farmers tilled the soil or tended livestock; today there are fewer than 4.5 million farmers who feed a population four times larger than it was at the beginning of the century.
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Excellent review of farming history in US
- By Joanne on 01-26-14
By: Paul K. Conkin
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The Rational Optimist
- How Prosperity Evolves
- By: Matt Ridley
- Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
- Length: 13 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Life is getting better at an accelerating rate. Food availability, income, and life span are up; disease, child mortality, and violence are down all across the globe. Though the world is far from perfect, necessities and luxuries alike are getting cheaper; population growth is slowing; Africa is following Asia out of poverty; the Internet, the mobile phone, and container shipping are enriching people's lives as never before.
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Personal
- By Robert F. Jones on 09-15-17
By: Matt Ridley
What listeners say about The Vertical Farm
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Ira
- 04-28-14
Wanted more on how a vertical farm work less histo
Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?
The topic of this book is very important to me for I do believe that the author is correct that vertical farming is workable, and we as a nation are doing little to prove or disprove its practicality. In the reading of this manuscript I was most disappointed that the author did not write more about the actual workings of vertical farming. The authors seem to move more in the direction of historical and philosophical facts.
What did you like best about this story?
That a book was written in the first place about such an important subject. The book itself was disappointing to me although I do believe that scientifically vertical farming is an answer to many of the world's problems.
Have you listened to any of Sean Runnette’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
No
If this book were a movie would you go see it?
What a stupid question to ask about a book such as this.
Any additional comments?
Much more should be written concerning the possibility and practicality of vertical farming. I do believe that in the future despite the lack of interest now being shown by our government to such an important subject that prototypes of vertical farming will prove to be successful.
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Overall
- Greg
- 01-31-11
a deeply fascinating topic
this is a hugely fascinating and thought provoking topic, well written and narrated. but man would i kill for a whole lot more in depth discussion on possible designs of the facility itself and all the myriad impacts this could have on human society if widely adopted.
in short MORE! MORE! MORE!
well worth the credit.
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- Jason
- 10-06-11
Substance or Theatre?
If you are looking for a book to convince you that vertical farms will be a necessity in the next 100 years, this is your book. If you are looking for a book that will give you a guide illustrating how one might build a vertical farm with practical, existing technology, this is definitely not your book. He is heavy on history and reasons for urban farming, which I'm all for, but he is light on any practical insights on how one might do such a thing. C-
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- Andrea
- 10-21-13
This will save our planet...this is the future!
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Yes. It will change the way you think about how your city is supplied with food, and just how vulnerable and precarious our food production and distribution system is.
What other book might you compare The Vertical Farm to and why?
The Singularity is Near. By Ray kurtweil both books speak of profound changes coming in humanity's future. Enevatibilities that will revolutionize future human life.
Which scene was your favorite?
The whole thing!
What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?
That current agriculture practices are both destructive and unsustainable.
Any additional comments?
Everyone should listen to or read this book. The concept has the ability to solve many of the major problems that threaten our very existance.
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- Winters
- 09-08-24
this guy has no clue
mostly about the history of farming. only 3 or 4 chapters remotely discussing vertical farming.
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Overall
- Texas Community Project
- 01-25-11
Excellent Brainstorming - Not reality
I absolutely love the dream of this book. My excitement while listening was at 5 stars, but... Unfortunately after study, the book is based on wishes as well as present technology. It is a mix with enough functional technology blended with wishful thinking, to have confused me, initially. I started to 'buy the whole package'..... Fortunately, my Ag background raised resistance to things like, where all the light 'power' might come from, it is a major problem for indoor growers. Then, I looked into his proposition of plasma gasification. That seems to be a dead end for the moment. Plasma gasification plants have been tried in the US, and should be again, but none are working, and the plants have closed. Most plants in other countries (one reported in Germany took US$500 million down with it) have also given up.... For now, I feel like I have listened to a techno version of a Dan Brown novel - believable, but functionally fiction. I wish it were true, maybe this is an image of things to come....
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4 people found this helpful
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- Korey Weaver
- 08-14-20
good intro to the concept!
some of the info is a little outdated, but if you want to get a good understanding of vertical farms, this is still a good place to start!
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- K. Andersen
- 10-15-10
A much needed concept
A lot of background and history, but I like that kind of stuff. The author finally gets to the main subject and treats it well. The four stars are mainly for the great concept.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 03-20-19
finished 3.20.19
f I n I s h e d 3 ...2 0 2 0 1 9
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- Wilcox
- 11-07-14
Eye opening...
The Vertical Farm does a great job explaining the science and economy of an alternative method of farming. The description of hydroponics and aeroponics were very informative. The author makes a great case for the feasibility of this method of food production.
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