IEC
Digital technology can help to meet UN Sustainable
Development Goal 2 (SDG 2), which aims to end hunger worldwide, with the
assistance of IEC Standards.
article here
The warning contained in the latest State of Food Security
and Nutrition in the World 2022 report could not be more stark:
urgently invest in sustainable agri-food systems or risk the lives of millions
of people in the very near future. The organizations behind the report - IFAD, WFP, UNICEF, WHO and FAO -
point out that we are now only eight years away from 2030, but the distance to
reach many of the SDG 2 zero hunger targets is growing longer.
Some 828 million people in the world faced hunger in 2021.
This is about 180 million more people since the UN embarked on its
2030 Agenda in 2015. Conflict, climate change and various economic shocks
exacerbated regional inequalities in 2021. And this is before even alluding to
the current cost of living crisis and rise in food prices, triggered by the war
in Ukraine, which will be a hugely aggravating factor in 2022
As the world’s population is expected to reach nearly 10
billion by 2050, most of whom will be living in cities, experts predict
current levels of food production will be required to raise by 70% by
2030. The five organizations call for “bolder action” to build the world’s
resilience to future shocks. Some efforts are already being made towards
meeting SDG 2, but according to the report, these are proving insufficient in
the face of a more challenging and uncertain context. The report calls
for a profound change to the global food and agriculture system if we are to
nourish the world’s population.
Vertical farming to ease some of the burden
Can we, to paraphrase Matt Damon’s character in The
Martian, "science our way out of this?" In other words, how can
technology help?
“One major problem is that the amount of available arable
land is decreasing because of climate change and growing urbanization,” says
analyst Brandon Beh, at consultancy firm IDTechEx. “Globally, we need
to increase food production efficiency and technology can help us do this.”
Could vertical farming be one of the answers? Instead of
growing produce in a field or under a greenhouse, vegetables and fruit are
cultivated indoors in vertically stacked layers, without natural daylight or
soil. This form of farming does not require pesticides or long-distance
transport, making it more sustainable. It is also unaffected by climate change.
Water is recycled either using hydroponics, where plant
roots are submerged into a body of nutrient-rich water, or aeroponics, with
plant roots instead suspended in air and irrigated with a nutrient-dense mist.
The latter is claimed to use up to 95% less water than outdoor farming.
There’s been a recent surge in vertical farm investment
propelled by a dramatic fall in the cost of LED lights, necessary to illuminate
crops 24/7. Specific LED grow lights can produce the exact spectrum of light
required for photosynthesis to occur in optimal conditions.
Market growth hampered by cost
There are already more than 2000 vertical farms in
the US, growing produce such as lettuce, herbs and berries. British firm Jones
Food Company is building what it claims is the world’s largest vertical farm
(1,5 hectares) in Gloucestershire. It aims to supply 70% of the UK’s fresh
produce within the next 10 years. One research company expects the industry to
grow to $9,7bn worldwide by 2026. Proponents believe the concept can
feed millions of people.
Others aren’t so sure. “If vertical farming is the only way
we can produce enough food to tackle food insecurity, then it is not the
answer,” says Beh. “Only in an extreme scenario where the climate is so bad
that we cannot farm outside does vertical farming become the only solution.”
The problem with vertical farming is its cost. Aside from
banks of LEDs, it requires a network of sensors and cameras to collect data
about plants and the environment. “Those who cannot already afford conventional
farming technologies are not going to be able to afford vertical farming,” says
Beh. IDTechEx estimates the sector will grow at a compound annual growth rate
of 4 to 5% until 2023 to reach $900m. In comparison, however, the organic fruit
and veg business was worth $17bn in the US alone in 2018.
In addition, staple crops like wheat, rice and potatoes are
“extremely uneconomic” when vertically farmed. These have a longer growing
period and require a lot of light and therefore energy, compared with lettuce,
for instance. Vertical farming methods can, however, ease the overall burden on
food production. According to Beh, “it provides locally grown produce that
might be attractive to certain groups of customers and in theory that might
free up cheaper produce for others who can’t afford more expensive goods.”
Where standards can help
It is expected that standardization will help to bring costs
down and create a level playing field for manufacturers involved in supplying
vertical farmers. IEC is developing standards in different areas relevant to
vertical farming. IEC 62031 establishes safety specifications
concerning LED modules for general lighting. IEC Technical Committee 34,
which publishes this standard, has set up an advisory group on horticultural
lighting, AG 15, which provides a coordinated approach to standardization in
this area.
Considerable coverage has been devoted to blue light hazard
in vertical farming. The short wavelength, high-energy blue light can cause
retina damage through a combination of photochemical action and high intensity.
Like other lighting technologies, LED grow lights must therefore be checked for
photobiological safety. IEC TC 76 publishes IEC 62471, which
gives guidance for evaluating the photobiological safety of lamps and lamp
systems. The standard concerns all electrically powered broadband sources of
optical radiation, including LEDs but excluding lasers. To complete this
standard, IEC TC 34 issues the technical report, IEC TR 62778, which gives
guidance on the assessment of blue light hazard for all lighting products which
emit in the visible spectrum
AI and drones
The use of data to feed AI tools is not unique to vertical
farming. Data from sensors and drones can help minimize the amount of
fertilizer and water used in traditional farming. The technology is part of the
wider digitization of agriculture but there is inequality in rolling out basic
infrastructure such as 4G and 5G networks. These tend to be introduced first in
urban rather than rural areas the world over.
5G mmWave (or millimetre wave) is an ultra-high frequency
band in the millimetre wave range promising transmission speeds 100 times
faster than 4G. This new cellular technology is one of the key elements of the
5G technology mix, benefiting mobile Wi-Fi, cellular backhaul, and home
internet service. A joint effort by IEC and IEEE (Institute of
electrical and electronic engineers) has resulted in the publication of two
international standards. IEC/IEEE 63195-1:2022 and IEC/IEEE
63195-2:2022 aim to provide a central platform for electric and magnetic
fields (EMF) compliance testing of all 5G mmWave devices. These standards make
it easier to roll out 5G, including in rural areas.
There’s also a concern with data security. According to Beh,
“If a farmer grows a certain type of crop and they give that data to suppliers
there is the risk, perceived or real, that the supplier might raise the price
of certain seeds.” He adds: “If we want more farmers to adopt new digital
technologies then creating standards goes a long way. If you can’t trust a
system, you won’t use it. International standards help by giving farmers the
security and transparency they need that their data will not be
misappropriated.” The IEC publishes several cyber security standards,
including IEC 62443, which can be applied to any industrial environment,
including farming and critical infrastructure facilities, such as power
utilities or nuclear plants, as well as in the health and transport
sectors.
Lab grown meat
Growing livestock for meat has been identified as a major
contributor to carbon emissions, with lab-grown synthetic meat seen as one of
the ways to reduce CO2 levels. According to the Good Food Institute, in 2020
alone, $3,1 billion was invested in the cultivated meat industry. In 2021,
Singapore became the first country to offer lab-grown meat
through their home delivery platform Foodpanda.
The process of making lab-grown meat starts with the removal
of a small number of muscle cells from a living animal. A lab technician places
the harvested cells in bioreactors before adding them to a bath of nutrients.
The cells grow and multiply, producing real muscle tissue. These lab-grown
cells can then be transformed into various types of meat. Cultivated meat has
its own energy requirements which still create greenhouse gas emissions.
It is however possible to power labs using renewable energy. At
least five IEC TCs produce standards for renewables energy systems,
including TC 82 which prepares standards for solar photovoltaic
systems and TC 88 which develops standards for wind energy systems.
Current production cost estimates for lab-grown meat range
from $363 to $2,400 per pound of beef, making it much more expensive to produce
than regular meat. Again, standards should help to bring down the cost of
this new industry. An area for the IEC and other standards organizations to
look into.
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