On Tuesday, April 24th a panel discussion
on urban food security and the role of underground space took place in the
ITACUS Open Session at the World Tunnelling Congress in Dubai. SCAUT
representatives Michael Lierau and Klaus Wachter who were part of the panel presented
the SCAUT concept of Underground Green Farming. The intensive discussion and the feedback of
the attendants indicate that this concept has a huge potential yet to be
explored and exploited.
In
a nutshell, the SCAUT concept
Provides
food security due to stable 'local' provision of food independent of time and location
Improves
food/feed safety as the use of pesticide and fertilizers can be reduced to a
minimum and non-genetically modified foods are produced
Significant
water and energy savings given an efficient, stable and highly controlled environment
Reduction
of carbon footprint (along the entire supply chain as stated in the proposal)
Economic
model, to be easily implemented around the globe. The model includes underground
space creation and use.
Precondition
for developing UGF projects is the proof of concept of a prototype. Hence the development
of a scalable UGF prototype in the Hagerbach Test Gallery shall be pushed. In
this context, SCAUT is in the process of developing a project with industry
partners.
Ahmad Bukhash, Director of Urban Planning in Dubai
and part of the ITACUS panel, concluded that Dubai is very much interested in
hosting the next UGF prototype. Taking this into account, SCAUT sees great
potential to develop UGF projects in countries like UAE, South Korea and
beyond.