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.