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Usually, vertical farming uses less water per kilogram of produce than irrigated field farming, but it uses substantially more energy. The size and even direction of the difference depend on the crop, climate, electricity mix, and what each study counts as water or energy. A rainfed field can outperform a vertical farm on water, while low-carbon electricity can reduce emissions without reducing the farm’s underlying electricity demand.
The short answer depends on two different resources
Water and energy move in opposite directions in most comparisons of controlled-environment agriculture (CEA) and open-field production. Vertical farms recirculate nutrient solution, collect or condense water, and avoid much of the evaporation and drainage associated with soil. Their plants can also grow several layers high, so more crop is produced from each floor area. Those features generally improve water use per kilogram of saleable crop.
The same facilities replace sunlight and favorable weather with equipment. Light-emitting fixtures, pumps, fans, dehumidifiers, heating, cooling, and climate controls run throughout the crop cycle. That electricity demand normally makes energy use per kilogram higher than in a field that receives sunlight for free. A hydroponic greenhouse may have lower lighting demand than a fully indoor vertical farm, so “CEA,” “greenhouse hydroponics,” and “vertical farming” should not be treated as identical systems.
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There is no defensible universal percentage for either resource. A useful comparison states the crop, location, production system, functional unit, system boundary, and electricity source.
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What a detailed lettuce comparison found
Barbosa et al. (2015) modeled lettuce production in southwestern Arizona. The controlled system was hydroponic greenhouse production, not a measured commercial vertical farm. Its results are valuable as an illustration of the trade-off, but they should not be presented as a global vertical-farming average.
| Metric | Hydroponic system | Conventional system | Reported difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water use per kilogram of lettuce | 20 ± 3.8 L/kg | 250 ± 25 L/kg | Hydroponic production used about 12.5% as much water in this model |
| Energy demand per kilogram | 90,000 ± 11,000 kJ/kg | 1,100 ± 75 kJ/kg | 82 ± 11 times higher for the hydroponic system |
| Yield per unit area | The modeled hydroponic yield was 11 ± 1.7 times higher | Area-based water use was reported as comparable | |
The water figures are per kilogram of lettuce, not per hectare. The energy estimate includes heating, cooling, and supplemental lighting, which explains why the resource profiles diverge so sharply. The authors combined engineering equations and literature values for the hydroponic case with crop budgets and government agricultural statistics for the conventional case. Arizona’s climate, assumptions, and production practices limit how directly those numbers transfer to another region.
Why recirculation can reduce water use
Closed nutrient loops
In a hydroponic or vertical system, water is delivered directly to roots and often returned to a reservoir. Operators can filter, disinfect, and rebalance the solution rather than replacing all of it after one irrigation. Plants still lose water through transpiration, and some water leaves with harvested biomass, but the system can avoid much of the runoff and deep percolation found in irrigated soil.
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Controlled losses
Indoor farms can limit wind, soil evaporation, and heat stress. Dehumidifiers may condense water vapor from the air and return it to the process, although the electricity required by that equipment belongs in the energy account. Greenhouses can capture some condensate and rainwater, while open fields depend on local irrigation and rainfall patterns.
Yield changes the denominator
Resource efficiency is commonly expressed as liters or kilowatt-hours per kilogram of marketable produce. If a controlled system harvests more kilograms from the same area, fixed infrastructure and some water flows are spread across a larger output. A farm can therefore have high total electricity consumption but still improve a particular area-based productivity measure. Always check whether a study reports per kilogram, per square meter, or total farm use.
What broader evidence says about CEA
A meta-analysis by Verteramo Chiu et al. (2024) examined 91 publications with underlying studies published from 2000 through January 2023. Across tomatoes, strawberries, and lettuce, CEA systems had significantly higher yields, energy use, and global-warming potential than the comparison systems, while using significantly less water. The authors also identified inconsistent reporting between studies, which makes a single multiplier inappropriate.
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Righini et al. (2025) reviewed lettuce vertical-farm performance and reported review-level ranges rather than guarantees for any individual facility:
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| Vertical-farm indicator for lettuce | Review-level value | How to interpret it |
|---|---|---|
| Fresh yield | 60–105 kg/m²/year | Annual output per floor-area measure used by the review |
| Energy-use efficiency | About 0.08–0.13 kg fresh weight/kWh | Equivalent to roughly 7.7–12.5 kWh per kilogram within that range |
| Water-use efficiency | About 140 g fresh weight/L | Approximately 7.1 L per kilogram, subject to the review’s definitions |
These figures summarize heterogeneous studies. Lighting technology, photoperiod, cultivar, climate-control set points, building design, crop density, and whether embodied infrastructure is included can all move the result.
Why “less water” is not always true against every field farm
Irrigated and rainfed fields are different baselines
An irrigated field may withdraw large volumes of water to replace evaporation, runoff, and soil drainage. A recirculating farm often looks favorable against that baseline. A rainfed field, however, can receive its water directly from precipitation and require little blue-water withdrawal. Comparing a vertical farm with a rainfed farm requires stating whether rainfall, or “green water,” is counted as an impact.
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Evidence from UK and Spain
Gargaro et al. (2025) compared a vertical farm with field scenarios in the United Kingdom and Spain. The vertical-farm water impacts were below the Spanish field scenarios but above the two UK rainfed field farms modeled. This result does not contradict the Arizona example; it shows that climate and irrigation practice determine the comparator.
Upstream materials can matter
The same life-cycle assessment found that direct cultivation water was a small share of the vertical-farm scenarios’ total water impact. Jute plugs used as growing media contributed a substantial upstream share. A study that counts only water added to irrigation will therefore produce a different answer from one that includes manufacturing and supply-chain water.
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Lighting
Indoor vertical farms must supply photosynthetically useful light when sunlight is blocked or unavailable. Fixture efficacy, light intensity, operating hours, canopy density, and the electricity needed to remove heat from the fixtures all affect the result. A greenhouse that relies mainly on daylight has a different energy profile from a warehouse with multiple illuminated tiers.
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Climate control
Plants transpire water, and dense indoor crops release heat. Fans move air through the canopy; heating or cooling maintains temperature; dehumidification removes moisture; and pumps circulate nutrient solution. In cold or hot climates, maintaining a narrow temperature and humidity range can dominate the energy balance.
Infrastructure and operations
Some assessments include refrigeration, packaging, building materials, replacement equipment, and transport; others count only farm operations. The boundary should be stated before two energy values are compared. Energy demand is normally reported in kilowatt-hours or joules per kilogram, whereas climate impact is reported in carbon-dioxide equivalents. They are related but not interchangeable.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Electricity source changes emissions, not the farm’s physical load
Sandison et al. (2023) modeled a lettuce vertical farm in Scotland and attributed 91% of its carbon footprint to electricity. Under the study’s scenarios, emissions were:
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|---|---|---|
| 2019 Scottish grid mix | 1.49 kg CO₂e/kg lettuce | Baseline grid composition in the case study |
| 2020 Scottish grid mix | 0.42 kg CO₂e/kg lettuce | Lower-carbon grid mix |
| 100% renewable generation | 0.33 kg CO₂e/kg lettuce | Modeled electricity supply, not a reduction in equipment demand |
The large change in carbon intensity demonstrates why electricity procurement matters. Switching to renewable generation can lower greenhouse-gas emissions substantially while the lighting, pumping, heating, and cooling still consume approximately the same physical amount of electricity. Do not describe the Scotland figures as energy-use figures; they are greenhouse-gas results.
How to compare a vertical farm with conventional farming fairly
- Name the crop and product. Compare the same cultivar and marketable fresh weight where possible. Lettuce, tomatoes, and strawberries have different lighting and heating needs.
- Describe the production system. Separate indoor stacked farms, daylight greenhouses, and outdoor hydroponic systems. The Arizona study is a hydroponic greenhouse model, not a vertical-farm measurement.
- Choose a functional unit. Use kilograms of saleable produce for consumer resource intensity. Add kilograms per square meter or per year when discussing land productivity, rather than substituting area for mass.
- Set the water boundary. Say whether the figure covers irrigation withdrawals, replacement water, rainfall, wastewater, and upstream materials such as growing plugs. “Water use” without a boundary is ambiguous.
- Set the energy boundary. Identify whether lighting, heating, cooling, dehumidification, pumping, refrigeration, buildings, and transport are included.
- Report electricity and emissions separately. Give energy demand in joules or kilowatt-hours, then state the grid or renewable assumption used to calculate carbon emissions.
- Check geography and date. A Scottish grid scenario, an Arizona climate model, and a rainfed UK field are not interchangeable conditions.
- Read uncertainty ranges. Values such as 20 ± 3.8 L/kg include modeled uncertainty; replacing them with a single precise number implies more certainty than the study supports.
When vertical farming is likely to have an advantage
- Water-limited, irrigated regions: Recirculation and controlled losses can reduce freshwater withdrawals per kilogram compared with heavily irrigated fields.
- Perishable leafy greens near consumers: High yields per building area and predictable harvests may be useful where land or local growing seasons are constrained, although transport and refrigeration boundaries still matter.
- Low-carbon electricity: Renewable or otherwise low-emission power can reduce climate impact, even though it does not remove the need for electricity.
- Consistent year-round supply: Stable conditions can reduce weather-related crop losses, but the benefit must be weighed against construction and equipment impacts.
When conventional or rainfed production may perform better
- Rainfed climates: A field that receives sufficient rainfall can have lower blue-water impact than an electrically powered indoor farm.
- Sunlight-rich locations: Open fields and daylight greenhouses avoid much of the artificial-light load.
- Low-energy crops and short seasons: Crops that need little climate control may not justify an energy-intensive indoor environment.
- Studies with broad life-cycle boundaries: Including buildings, growing media, replacement equipment, and electricity infrastructure can reduce the apparent advantage of direct irrigation savings.
Common mistakes in interpreting the numbers
- Calling every CEA result “vertical farming.” Greenhouse hydroponics and stacked indoor farms have different energy requirements.
- Assuming water savings imply lower total environmental impact. The meta-analysis found lower water use but higher energy use and global-warming potential for CEA overall.
- Comparing liters per hectare with liters per kilogram. High yield can change the ranking when the denominator changes.
- Ignoring rainfall. Irrigated Spanish fields and rainfed UK fields represent different water systems.
- Confusing carbon with energy. Cleaner electricity lowers CO₂e per kilogram; it does not make the lights, fans, and pumps consume fewer kilowatt-hours.
- Turning one modeled case into a promise. The Arizona multipliers are study-specific estimates, not a universal performance guarantee.
Bottom line for readers evaluating a claim
If a claim says a vertical farm “saves water,” ask: compared with which crop, in which climate, and including which upstream inputs? If it says the farm is “energy efficient,” ask for kilowatt-hours per kilogram and the equipment included. The strongest evidence supports a conditional conclusion: controlled, recirculating systems often reduce water use per kilogram against irrigated field production, while artificial lighting and climate control usually raise energy demand. Rainfed agriculture can reverse the water result, and cleaner electricity can greatly reduce emissions without erasing the energy trade-off.
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